Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answerMeditationMeditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.What, then, is meditation? As one expert ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer

Meditation

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.

What, then, is meditation? As one expert put it recently, it is just sitting and relaxing. (A) Many people find that their lives are so full of the demands of work, family, friends and organized leisure pursuits that they have no time to “stand and state”. Many are so busy planning and working towards the future that they take little pleasure from the here and now. In their hurry to “get on” they miss out on the simple pleasures of life; the change of the seasons, the singing of a bird or the innocent wonder of a child. But beauty and joy are there to be seen and experienced, even in the most industrial of landscapes. (B) Meditation can be a good way of just taking time out and allowing yourself to relate to and appreciate the moment. It may be by walking along the seashore, or sitting by a stream, or just by noticing silence in a still room and enjoying it. (C)

Rather than forcing yourself to take up a difficult physical position, just relax; sit in a chair or take a walk in a favorite landscape at a steady pace. It is not a good idea to slump or lie down, as this tend to leads to sleep. It is the relaxed focus that is necessary. If you sit down, do so with your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap or on the arms of the chair, and your head comfortably balanced. If you are walking, do so slowly and carefully, aware of the movement of each foot, and the contact with the ground below. (D) Notice the reaction of the ground to your feet. This is an extremely simple but effective exercise in becoming truly aware of the present.

Meditation, above all, is about staying with the moment, being in touch with one’s surroundings and one’s inner world, much of which is more easily achieved when you are in a meditative state.

What does meditation involve?