Whether you are thinking about the grocery list, recalling the argument you had with your partner last night, or fantasizing about the car or house you’ll buy when you win the lottery, chances are your mind is always on the go. All this thinking can be quite exhausting. It also makes it hard to mentally slow down long enough to focus on anything for more than a few seconds at a time.

Meditation offers a brief sabbatical from the busyness of thinking. The recent study made in USA showed that the brain doesn’t shut off during meditation, but does block out some information that it would normally let in. Specifically, it blocks information from reaching the parietal lobe, part of the brain that processes sensory data about the outside world.

Numerous studies have documented the power of meditation to affect the rest of the body as well. Researchers have found out that meditation can produce changes in immune function and blood pressure that may have important implications for health. Meditation has also been shown to improve quality of life for people with a wide range of medical conditions, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, chronic pain and anxiety disorders. In addition, meditation has a long tradition of being used to enhance spiritual or personal growth.

People who use meditation for spiritual purposes typically do some focused deep breathing first to get into a calm, receptive frame of mind. Then, while still in the meditative state, they reflect on a certain experience, issue or spiritual truth.

Counting to 10

A full-blown meditation session usually lasts at least 20 minutes. However, you can get a smaller taste of the experience by practicing mini-meditation. It’s based on the old adage that you should count to 10 when you get upset. It turns out that this advice really works if you focus intently on the counting.

1. Take a few long, deep breaths to relax. Focus on the breath going in and out.
2. Imagine yourself in an elevator at the top of a 10-story office building. Breathe in deeply. Then silently say the number 10 as you breathe out.
3. Continue counting backwards from 10 to 1 this way as you mentally ride the elevator down from the top floor to the bottom.