Meditation in the Religious World

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Imagine the ability for one to manipulate the body, impacting physical healing or stress management by just using the mind with the power of thought and great focus. Meditation is the practice of quiet reflection, visualization, or worship. It consists of systematic thinking, or focus, on a specific topic. Types of meditation include religious prayer, Chinese Tai Chi, Hindu yoga, or overall mindfulness. Throughout history, meditation has been practiced by people of various religions in the world. Being mindful can help people cope with change and uncertainty, becoming more comfortable with the unknown, and avoid rigid, scattered thinking (Hall 16). Scientific studies have proven meditation is beneficial to the human body causing happier, healthier people who are less stressed and more attentive; thus using any of these various types of meditation is an effective way to improve quality of life, reduce stress, influence mood, boost healing, and even physically modify the size of structures in the brain.
Meditation encompasses a range of methods. Christians meditate by using prayer to reflect on themselves, theology, and other daily life topics by visualizing mental images that empathize with God or other biblical figures and topics. Indian cultures developed the practice of Buddhism, constantly seeking good karma, inner peace, and total enlightenment. Buddhists strive to achieve ultimate purification and lead a good life. The practice of yoga, which stemmed from the Buddhist religion, has been used as a method of stress reduction, weight loss, and healing. It is believed by many that envisioning peace and healing during yoga, combined with deep focused breathing and flowing movements, meditation is beneficial to the human body. Chin...

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..., Jon E. Seskevich, and Carl F. Pieper. “Brief Meditation Training Can Improve Perceived Stress And Negative Mood." Alternative Therapies In Health & Medicine 13.1 (2007): 38-44.Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Lengacher, Cecile, et al. "Mindfulness based stress reduction in post-treatment breast bancer patients: an examination of symptoms and symptom clusters." Journal Of Behavioral Medicine 35.1 (2012): 86-94. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Oswal, Pragati, et al. "The Effect Of Add-On Yogic Prana Energization Technique (YPET) On Healing Of Fresh Fractures: A Randomized Control Study." Journal Of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 17.3 (2011): 253-258. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Wei, Gao-Xia, et al. "Can Taichi Reshape The Brain? A Brain Morphometry Study." Plos ONE 8.4 (2013): 1-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

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