How Christians Can Use Meditation For Stress Relief

Did you know that as Christians, we can use meditation for stress relief and to draw closer to God?

Meditation helps to calm our thoughts and ease our minds. From a practical sense, meditation is a tool that can help us to cultivate concentration and focus. From a spiritual sense as Christians, meditation can help us to set distractions aside, focus our gaze on Jesus, and awaken to the Presence of God.

Keep reading to learn what does the Bible say about meditation, the differences between meditation vs prayer and how Christians can enjoy the mental benefits of meditation as a form of stress relief.

What is Meditation?

To meditate is to think deeply or carefully about something. Meditation is a practice of single-pointed focus on an object, thought, or concept which leads to a state of mental clarity, increased relaxation, and heightened awareness.

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years and is found in various forms across different cultures. Originally, meditation was considered a spiritual practice that is found in almost all faith traditions and religions. Today, meditation is primarily known as a practice which helps to reduce anxiety and stress.

There are many different styles of meditation, including faith-based meditation practices and meditation for stress relief, so individuals can explore and choose the practice that best meets their needs and preferences.

The Benefits of Meditation

There are many benefits of meditation. Research has found that meditation changes our brain and biology in positive ways, improving mental and physical health. Although meditation for stress relief is a popular practice to reduce stress and anxiety, there is growing evidence that shows that there are other mental benefits of meditation such as:

Reduces stress
Controls anxiety
Lowers blood pressure
Promotes emotional health
Enhances self-awareness
Lengthen attention span
Helps Reduce age-related memory loss
Helps fight addictions
Improves sleep
Controls pain

How to Use Meditation for Stress Relief

Meditation is an umbrella term for various mindfulness practices employed to achieve a relaxed state of being and to find a sense of inner peace. But what happens when we practice meditation for stress relief?

When you’re stressed, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode, increasing your heart rate, tensing your muscles, dumping stress hormones into your bloodstream, and temporarily shutting down non-essential functions like digestion, detoxification, and immune system function.

Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body’s “rest and digest” response. This counteracts the “fight or flight” response triggered by stress. As a result, your heart rate decreases, your blood pressure lowers, and your body enters a state of relaxation.

Some simple ways to practice meditation for stress relief include:

Focus on Your Breath: Close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. Notice the sensation of your breath as it enters and exits your nostrils or the rise and fall of your chest or belly. This simple breathwork practice can help calm your mind and reduce stress.
Body Scan: Starting from your toes, mentally scan your body for any tension or discomfort. Notice where you find tension and consciously release it, using your breath to help you let go. Slowly and mindfully move your attention up through your body, relaxing and releasing tension in each part of your body as you go.
Observe Your Thoughts: Get quiet and comfortable and begin to notice your thoughts as they naturally arise. Instead of getting caught up in them, simply observe them without judgment. Imagine your thoughts as clouds passing through the sky, and gently return your focus to your breath.

What Does the Bible Say About Meditation?

Many Christians associate meditation with Eastern religions or the New Age movement. This association leads many Christians to fear meditation believing it to open the mind to evil spirits or untrue teachings.

This fear of meditation robs Christians of the many benefits of this ancient spiritual discipline and an important way of interacting with God. Is meditation BIblical and if so, what does the Bible say about meditation?

Christian meditation is rooted in the Bible.

Meditation is mentioned 23 times in the Bible. We can find some form of the word meditation 19 times in the books of Psalms alone. Biblical meditation points us to a type of deep thinking and contemplation on the things of God. In this way, meditation is the practice of chewing on a thought, or turning over and around a concept in the mind in order to gain a greater understanding of God.

The Bible commands us to meditate.

When we are commanded to meditate in the Bible, we are not merely emptying our mind, but are told to meditate on some aspect of the Lord. Some objects of meditation that we find in the Bible include:

God’s Word
God’s ways
God’s character & attributes
What God has done in the past
What God is doing in the present
What God promises to do in the future
God’s presence with us

Meditation vs Prayer

“I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done…Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails…Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:5, 7-8

As Christians, we know the importance of prayer. But, what is the difference between meditation vs prayer, and can they work together for a synergistic effect?

Biblical meditation and prayer go hand in hand! Throughout the Psalms, we hear the Psalmist struggling deeply and expressing his pain to God. In Psalm 143, we see the psalmist illustrate a perfect example of the Biblical relationship between meditation vs prayer. The Psalmist is chewing or meditating on what God has done in his life and that leads him to heartfelt prayer, asking God to answer again like he has before!

Meditation can enhance our prayer life. It helps our minds to “get still” and turn away from distractions. For Christians, meditation allows us to focus more clearly on God’s presence with us and ushers us into uninterrupted conversations with God and heartfelt prayers to our Heavenly Father.

In previous blog posts, we have explored how prayer beads and postures of prayer as tools for meditation and prayer.

The Spiritual and Mental Benefits of Meditation

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Meditation helps to calm our thoughts and still our minds. Christian meditation techniques teach us how to control our thoughts to “hold each thought captive to Christ”.

The ultimate goal of a Christ-centered meditation practice is to set distractions aside to awaken to Immanuel… the Divine presence of God with us.

Through Christian meditation, we can learn to separate the earthly from the heavenly, the temporal from the eternal, and illusion from reality enabling us to live our lives from an eternal perspective.