Meditation can be considered a technique, or practice. It usually involves
concentrating on an object, such as a flower, a candle, a sound or word, or the breath.
Over time, the number of random thoughts occuring diminishes. More importantly, your
attachment to these thoughts, and your identification with them, progressively become
less. The meditator may get caught up in a thought pattern, but once he/she becomes
aware of this, attention is gently brought back to the object of concentration. Meditation
can also be objectless, for example consisting of just sitting.
Experiences during meditation can vary significantly from one individual to another,
especially if different techniques are involved. Relaxation, increased awareness, mental
focus and clarity, and a sense of peace are the most common by-products of meditation.
While much has been written about the benefits of meditation, the best attitude is not to
have any expectations when practicing. Having a sense of expectation of (positive)
results is likely to create unnecessary strain in the practice.
Since meditation involves becoming more aware and more sensitive to what is within
you, facing unpleasant parts of oneself may well be part of meditation. Regardless of the
experience, the meditator should try to be aware of the experience and of any
attachment to it.
Whether one experiences peace or bliss is not what is important.Meditation also
allows access repressed emotions, to process them and finally allow them to clear: a
vital step to letting go and preventing psychological or physical illness.
Failure to experience silence, peace of mind, mental clarity, bliss, or other promoted
benefit of meditation is not in itself a sign of incorrect practice or that one can't
concentrate properly or concentrate enough to be good at meditation. What is
generally considered important in meditation is that one is regular with their meditation
-every day- and that one make a reasonable effort, but not strain, to remain with the
object of concentration during the practice. With regular practice one inevitably
acquires an increased understanding of and proficiency with the particular meditation
technique.
Some people use the formal concentrative meditation as a preliminary step to practicing
a mindfulness meditation during the day where one tries to maintain a calm but
increased awareness of one's thoughts and actions during the day.
For some people, meditation is primarily a spiritual practice, and in some cases the
meditation practice may be closely tied to the practice of a religion such as, for example,
Hinduism or Buddhism.