Meditation

thumb |upright=1.2 |Statue of Shiva performing yoga in the [[lotus position ]]

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.

A mantra ( ; Pali: mantra) or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not.

religious movement originating in China

thumb|In meditation, chakras are often visualised in different ways, such as a lotus flower, or a disc containing a particular deity.

upright=1.35|thumb|Thangka painting of Manjuvajra mandala upright=1.35|thumb|The Womb Realm mandala. The center square represents the young stage of Vairocana. He is surrounded by eight Buddhas and [[bodhisattvas (clockwise from top: Ratnasambhava, Samantabhadra, Saṅkusumitarāja, Manjushri, Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Amoghasiddhi and Maitreya)]]

Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation

Bhakti (; Pali: bhatti) is a concept common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love. In Indian religions, it may refer to loving devotion for a personal God (like Krishna or Devi), a formless ultimate reality (like Nirguna Brahman or the Sikh God) or an enlightened being (like a Buddha, a bodhisattva, or a guru). Bhakti is often a deeply emotional devotion based on a relationship between a devotee and the object of devotion. A devotee is a bhakta or bhakt.

Qigong () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance the mystical life-force qi.

Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through exercises, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment. The term mindfulness derives from the Pali word sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and the practice is based on ānāpānasati, Chan, and Tibetan meditation techniques.

thumb|Kamppi Chapel in Helsinki City Centre is a [[community centre, assigned for contemplation.]] thumb|Nature contemplation

Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the directions of the person (if any) who has induced the trance. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.

thumb|upright=1.35|A group practising Nadi Shodhana pranayama (alternate nostril breathing) on the [[International Day of Yoga in Kolkata, India, in 2017 ]]

Vaishnava mantra

A japamala, ', or simply mala' (; , meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It is used for counting recitations (japa) of mantras, prayers or other sacred phrases. It is also worn to ward off evil, to count repetitions within some other form of sadhana (spiritual practice) such as prostrations before a holy icon. They are also used as symbols of religious identification.

silent mental practice of focus on a particular mantra to improve one's mind

heat, spiritual concept, asceticism in Indian religions

term in acoustics

Sufi ceremony performed as dhikr

ThetaHealing (also Theta Healing) is the registered trademark for a method of meditation created by Vianna Stibal in 1995. ThetaHealing claims to change a practitioner's brain wave pattern to the theta pattern, allowing them to explore how "emotional energy" affects their health, and develop a "natural intuition".

period of reflection, prayer, or meditation, practiced communally or in solitude

style of yoga

spiritual movement for Kundalini awakening within humans, for humans to realize their utmost potential

traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word

state of psychological or spiritual calm despite the potential presence of stressors

Item used in Christianity to assist prayer

desensitation-relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz by which a psychophysiologically determined relaxation response is obtained

thumb|A Bhutanese Buddhist woman doing Japa, with [[Japamala]] Japa () is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions.

Dhāraṇā () is the sixth limb of eight elucidated by Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga in his Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It is directing and maintaining the mind's attention to a specific location of the body after sense-withdrawal has been attained.

neural oscillation in the frequency range of 8–12 Hz

school of yoga

eight-week evidence-based program that offers secular, intensive mindfulness training to assist people with stress, anxiety, depression and pain

Hindu spiritual movement in the Indian subcontinent in the 13th century.

thumb|The outside of a Zawiya (institution)|zawiya, a place where Sufis would conduct their sessions which was usually in a private section of a [[mosque]]

Samyama (from Sanskrit संयम saṃ-yama—holding together, tying up, binding, integration) is the combined simultaneous practice of dhāraṇā (concentration), dhyāna (meditation) and samādhi (union).

thumb|Prayagraj Junction railway station at 05:52am in December, one and one quarter hours before sunrise Brahmamuhurta () is a 48-minute period (muhurta) that begins one hour and 36 minutes before sunrise, and ends 48 minutes before sunrise. It is traditionally the penultimate phase or muhurta of the night, and is considered an auspicious time for all practices of yoga and most appropriate for meditation, worship or any other religious practice. Spiritual activities performed early in the morning are said to have a greater effect than in any other part of the day.

Vow to maintain silence, usually for spirituality or protest

In psychology, self-compassion is extending compassion to one's self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. American psychologist Kristin Neff has defined self-compassion as being composed of three main elements – self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Self-kindness: Self-compassion entails being warm towards oneself when encountering pain and personal shortcomings, rather than ignoring them or hurting oneself with self-criticism. Common humanity: Self-compassion also involves recognizing that suffering and personal failure is part of the shared human

Pagoda in Mumbai, India

Japanese martial art

Neigong (internal strength or internal skill), also spelled nei kung, neigung, or nae gong, refers to a series of internal changes that a practitioner goes through when following the path to Dao, and these changes may be achieved through practices including qigong or tai chi. Neigong is also associated with xingyi quan.

The Matrimandir is an edifice of spiritual significance for practitioners of integral yoga in the centre of Auroville, India established by Mirra Alfassa of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville's spiritual co-founder, known to her followers as The Mother or La Mère. It is called Soul of the City (French: ''L'âme de la Ville) and situated in a large open space called "Paix" (French for Peace''). The Mandir was conceived of in late 1965 as a gleaming sphere rising amid twelve gardens by, who marked a lone banyan tree as the heart of the city. Its foundation stone was laid at sunrise on her 93rd b

Synchronized patterns of electrical activity in the part of the brain that controls voluntary movement

physically active Sufi meditation, practiced by Dervish orders, involving spinning in circles to music

thumb|The Daoyin Tu, a Mawangdui silk texts|painting on silk depicting the practice of daoyin; unearthed in 1973 in [[Hunan Province, China, from the 168 BC Western Han burial site of Mawangdui, Tomb Number 3.]]

psychotherapy that uses cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness meditative practices

training method often practiced by students of neijia

Henosis () is the classical Greek word for mystical "oneness", "union" or "unity". In Neoplatonism, henosis refers to the unification with what is fundamental in reality: the One (Τὸ Ἕν), the Source, or Monad. The Neoplatonic concept has precedents in the Greek mystery religions as well as parallels in Eastern philosophy. It is further developed in the Corpus Hermeticum, in Christian theology, Islamic Mysticism, soteriology and mysticism. Henosis is also an important factor in the historical development of monotheism during Late Antiquity.

term used in alternative medicine for various breathing practices (usually involves hyperventilation, and intermittent breath holds)

spiritual organization active in Africa

associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Taoism

research on how meditation can affect the body

mental exercise to fall asleep

inverted posture in hatha yoga

quantum physics concepts developed by David Bohm regarding wholeness and non-locality

form of prayer

thumb|Veda pathashala students doing sandhyavandanam at Nachiyar Kovil, Kumbakonam, [[Tamil Nadu.]] Sandhyavandanam (, or 'salutation during the twilight') is a mandatory religious ritual centring around the recitation of the Gayatri mantra, traditionally supposed to be performed three times a day by Dvija communities of Hindus, particularly those initiated through the sacred thread ceremony referred to as the Upanayanam and instructed in its execution by a Guru, in this case one qualified to teach Vedic ritual. Sandhyopasana is considered as a path to attain liberation (moksha).

In Buddhism, vitarka (; ; ), "applied thought,"(initial) inquiry," and vicāra ( and ; ), "investigating what has been focused on by vitakka, are qualities or elements of the first dhyāna or jhāna.

spiritual meditation

cymbal-like musical instrument