Meditation is the simple—yet sometimes surprisingly complex—practice of finding stillness; becoming present in the moment as a way to unite mind, body, and spirit. Meditation educator Bob Roth describes the process as embracing the choppiness of the waves atop the ocean’s surface and then submerging deeper to access the calm waters beneath.^, An ancient practice with a simple concept, the documented benefits of meditation include reduced stress, anxiety relief, improved focus, emotional well-being, better sleep, and improved memory. 

Meditation’s roots date back thousands of years. The first documented practice was part of the Vedic Hindu tradition in India around 1500 BCE. Between 600-500 BCE, its influence spread to Buddhist India and Taoist China, serving as a common thread in spiritual journeys across these cultures in the search for contemplation, knowledge, and liberation from the suffering of mortal existence. 

By 400-100 BCE, meditation became an integral element of the developing yoga tradition, a focus of both Pantajali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu scripture that provided philosophical foundations for yogic discipline. in the latter, the Lord Krishna expounds upon the duty of living an ethical life and reveals, “Concentration is better than mere practice, and meditation is better than concentration; but higher than meditation is surrender in love of the fruit of one’s own actions, for on surrender follows peace.”