The idea behind meditation is to consciously relax your body and focus your thoughts on one thing for a sustained period. This occupies your mind, diverting it from the problems that are causing you stress. It gives your body time to relax and recuperate, and to clear away stress hormones that may have built up.

There is nothing mystical about meditation. On the contrary, it is something that you can do quite easily by following these steps:

* Sit quietly and comfortably.
* Close your eyes.
* Start by relaxing the muscles of your feet and work up your body relaxing muscles (a technique like Progressive Muscular Relaxation can be useful for this).
* Focus your attention on your breathing.
* Breathe in deeply and then let your breath out. Count your breaths, and say the number of the breath as you let it out (this gives you something to do with your mind, helping you to avoid distraction).

Do this for ten or twenty minutes.
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Focusing on breathing and counting breaths is just one way you can occupy your mind during meditation.