What is meditation?

Meditation is basically taking time and on purpose bringing your mind into the present moment to pay attention to whatever comes up. Very important to a meditation is trying not to judge what happens during the practice and being kind to yourself.

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What is a meditation NOT?

A meditation is not a religious or spiritual practice; it can be but it doesn't have to be. Another misconception is that meditation has to be relaxing. That is mostly not the the case unless relaxation is the intention of your practice. It doesn't mean that relaxation is never happening or even wrong, it just means that it is not the main focus in mindfulness practices. Your mind has to be empty and you can't have any thoughts during meditation is also a common misconception. As long we are in possession of a brain I don't think it will be possible not to think, and it is also not the goal. However, what we practice is not to go into every detail of our thoughts and trying to see them as mental events rather than true facts.

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In my meditation classes I use similar methods to what is common in MBSR/MBCT trainings. That means that we define the intention for the practice and have an exchange about experiences after the practice to gain insight about what happens in the body and the mind. To have an intention doesn't mean to have a goal. It just means that you know why you are doing this practice to avoid confusion throughout the meditation. Of course, it is not mandatory for every participant to take part at the exchange but you might also learn about yourself and your automatic reactions just from listening to others.