Meditation is by no means a new concept, even to those of us living in the West. It’s difficult to trace the true history of meditation, but the oldest evidence is generally attributed to the Indian subcontinent between 5,000 BCE and 3,500 BCE, and featured prominently in the Vedas, ancient religious texts written in Sanskrit.

Meditation is a practice, used to train your mind to focus. The goal for many practitioners is to reach a state beyond thought and to simply be. Some achieve this by focusing all of their attention on something, such as their breath, while others prefer to practice mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness meditation is the practice of observing your thoughts and feelings without judgement, accepting them, and then moving on from them. Over time this provides a certain level of detachment and understanding of one’s thoughts and feelings, as well as more control over the self. Those who practice mindfulness meditation cultivate an understanding that they are not simply the sum of their thoughts and feelings, and have a deep self-awareness.

In a world as busy as ours, it feels as though there are infinite distractions. Upsetting news and opinions are often forced upon us, especially through social media, and we may find ourselves reacting before we’ve had a chance to process the information.

Meditation then becomes a defense against the stimuli of the modern day, and can give us focus and calm. From these can also stem contentment and happiness, because we are in control of our internal selves. We have found a way to anchor our spirits, rather than being at the mercy of endless waves of reactivity.