Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. The word "meditation" comes from the Latin meditatio, which means "to think, contemplate, devise, ponder." In Hebrew, meditation is known as הִתְבּוֹנְנוּת (hitbonenut). Other relevant translations include Méditation in French, Meditation in German, and Meditazione in Italian. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in numerous religious traditions and beliefs, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity. Western traditions, such as the Transcendental Meditation technique, have also developed. Meditation may be used with the aim of reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, and improving the quality of life. It has been employed in a wide range of cultural contexts, from ancient rituals to modern clinical psychology.
Techniques to train attention and awareness
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditation process itself.