If life's stresses are ruling your life - leaving you feeling unenergetic and overwhelmed - meditation could be a good way to combat the fatigue, clear your mind and boost your overall well being.

In recent years, a variety of healthful and stress-busting techniques such as aerobic exercise, weight training, yoga, and martial arts have been hyped to help people battle   weight   and   balance their physical being. Undoubtedly, these are all great ways to shape the outside of the body.

But, helping the inside of the body seems to have just as important implications for a healthy life. Meditation is one great way to center the mind and connect it to the body and environment around it.

People who meditate not only report feeling emotionally balanced, research suggests they actually are improving their reaction to stress. According to a May 2001 article in Psychology Today:  A group of individuals who had meditated for four months were found to produce less of the stress hormone cortisol and were better able to adapt to stress in their lives.

Origins:
Meditation was originally practiced in India and China in combination with yoga around the sixth century when Buddhism first came to Japan. Many Eastern religions and philosophies, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, still use and teach meditation as integral components of daily life.

Although much has changed since the introduction of this consciousness-seeking path in the sixth century, the foundations of meditation have remained fairly the same and  the  purported  benefits have  remained  constant: meditation  can  help  you  find  inner  peace, establish a mind-body connection, eliminate stress, and find more joy in your life.

Considerations:
Meditation is as simple as it sounds and it is much, much more. Finding a distraction-free place and method to center your mind might prove more daunting than just sit- ting alone in a quiet place.

Diane Nelson, a certified yoga instructor in Melbourne Beach and Indialantic suggests starting with your breathing. “Focus on clearing your mind by listening to the rhythm of your breathing. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly.”

Learning to quiet the mind takes practice, concentration and time. To begin, block time when you know you will not be tempted to reconnect to the physical world. Turn off cell phones and computers, unplug televisions and loud appliances. Find a comfortable spot in your home, office or yard where you will be cool, comfortable and free of any loud noises, sounds or bright lights.

Getting Ready:
Since the practice of meditation has been around for centuries, there are many techniques from which to choose and finding the right one to fit your needs is important. According to Jim Kulackoski, a professional yoga instructor in Chicago, “It's probably best for the beginner to enroll in a yoga class either at their local gym or yoga center.”

Meditation and mindful concentration is key to mastering yoga, a physical practice that helps create access to the nervous system and more internal peace of mind. According to Kulackoski, the instructor can serve as a guide to learning yoga and mindfulness and can answer questions regarding emotional and physical states during the process.

If you decide to enroll in a yoga class, the aid of the instructor could help you achieve results very quickly. “Yoga classes can yield instant results making you feel more alert and better able to handle stress. Results are remarkably noticeable and I recommend that beginners take advantage of local resources and even the internet,” Kulackoski said.

Other popular meditation techniques include Transcendental and Primordial Sound techniques. These can be practiced with an instructor or alone, using a book or manual available at any popular book store.

Transcendental meditation follows a set of Hindu principals which work to open the mind to total awareness and results in enhanced creativity, energy, and inner peace. The Primordial Sound technique elicits full alertness and relaxation at the same time through the concentration of specific sounds. Either can be practiced almost anywhere or any time your schedule allows.

Through the practice of mindfulness and Primordial Sound meditation, internal dialogue and fragments of negative thoughts are swept away and replaced with clearer vision and awareness through breathing and concentration.

Body Positioning:
There are many ways to position your body for meditation but the key is comfort. Traditional poses include the Burmese position - cross legged on the floor, hands at your lap - or Sky position, usually on a small meditation bench with knees positioned lower than hips. Sitting in a comfortable chair, hands at your side, can work just as well.

Whichever position you choose, make sure the spine and neck are straight, though not strained, arms hanging freely with hands placed comfortably in your lap. Once you have found a comfortable position away from distraction, this will become your “happy place” where all attention will be devoted to your self and to finding inner peace.

“Yoga classes can yield instant results making you feel more alert and
better able to handle stress.  Results are remarkably noticeable  and  I 
recommend that beginners take advantage of  local  resources  and  even the internet.”  JIM KULACKOSKI, Yoga instructor

Going Deep:
Before  attempting  mindfulness  through  meditation, know that you are
trying to enter a mental state which will likely seem foreign to you.   At first, it may actually be uncomfortable to try to think of nothing and to quiet your mind.

Try to remember that this time and space belongs only to you: bills, work,
family, frustrations, worry, friends and all the outside forces that are contributing to your stress levels simply cease to exist. You must take total control of your  thoughts  and  actions  and  center  your  focus  on breathing and quieting the mind.

Close your eyes and concentrate on taking deep, even and smooth-flowing
breaths. Take air in from your nose and fill your lungs to full capacity, allowing breath to exhale from your mouth. Concentrate on feeling the air as it enters your nostrils and makes its way down your airways into your lungs.    Feel your chest expand and harness the moment of transition from inhale to exhale. Feel your chest decompress as the air is not forced, but smoothly pushed out of your lungs and out of your mouth.

Focus on the sound of your breath and feel your body slowly begin to numb as it enters a relaxing state. It may take some time, but calmness, peacefulness and isolation will come over you as you feel an incredible bond with your body, mind, soul and environment.

Remember to be patient if you are beginning medita- tion on your own. It
could take a few attempts to achieve the state of quietness, but it will be
well worth it as you begin the journey of bringing peace back into your
life and mind.

Relief & Benefits
After meditation, take a moment to reflect. Do you feel disconnected from
the outside stresses that seemed to be ruling your life before you got started? Did you remember to push away all the negative thoughts that were
causing you stress? Did you concentrate on being content in the moment and feeling relaxed? If not, try to concentrate on those things next time.
Over time, prolonged periods of meditation can lead to measurable  benefits
such  as  lowered  heart  rate,  the reduction of stress-produced chemicals in the body such as Cortisol, decreased cholesterol, easier breathing, lessnxiety, improved memory and learning ability, more hap- piness and emotional stability.

Finding the right meditation technique is important, but scheduling time
each day to practice meditation and mind- fulness will yield immeasurable
benefits. If you find a way to set aside just ten minutes each day for
yourself, you will begin to look forward to that time and feel more
centered and grounded as each day passes.

Helpful Resources:

• "The Relaxation Response” by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper -
  Wings books, NY, NY, 1992
• Meditation: Journey to the Self by Ardis Whitman - Simon & Schuster,
  NY, NY, 1976

James A. Cintron is a freelance writer, in Chicago where he practices
meditation and is preparing to enter law school.