Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama who was born in northern India in 588 BCE to wealth and privilege. At 29-years-old, he abandoned his wealthy heritage and set upon a quest for truth and enlightenment living among the most disadvantaged where he sought to alleviate suffering and seek acceptance.

There is no personal god in Buddhism. The Buddha, whose name means, “the enlightened one,” is regarded not as a god, but as a great teacher who attained enlightenment and demonstrated a path of spiritual awakening and freedom. The Buddha encourages each person to embrace her or his traditional religion. Practices include meditation and mindfulness in everydaylife. Literature includes the sayings of Buddha, the vinyana–the discipline, and the abhidharma–the doctrine. In its various expressions, Buddhism is practiced by about 400 million people. Traditionally, there are three great divisions of Buddhist practice.

Mahayana path Buddhism: dominant in Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, and Mongolia. Mahayana regards the Buddha as a universal principle and an eternal teaching in the universe.

Hinayana path Buddhism: adheres more closely to the teaching of elders. Hinayana regards the Buddha as a historical figure who died but whose teachings are of value and is concentrated in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

2. Focus now on your thoughts. What are you thinking of? What kinds of thoughts have you had today, and which ones come to mind now? Are these upsetting thoughts or comforting ones? Dwell on the comforting or pleasant thoughts and place a greater emphasis on these thoughts.

3. Focus now on your emotions or feelings. What do you feel? Content? Angry? Annoyed? Sad? Excited? Peaceful? Allow yourself to feel.

4. Take 3 deep breaths (easy and slow) and return to your activities.

If you haven't meditated before, you might think it's too much trouble to learn. If you do meditate, you know it can be difficult to find the time to do it consistently. So is there really a meditation you can learn right now that can be done in 45 seconds? There is.

Three Deep Breaths

Try this: breath through your mouth, and notice how your chest expands; then breath through your nose and you'll notice how your abdomen goes out more. You see, breathing through the nose causes the diaphram to pull the air to the bottom of your lungs. This delivers a good dose of oxygen into your bloodstream, and into your brain. It also tends to relax you.

This is why meditators breath through their noses. It's healthier, and it is the basis of this forty-five-second meditation. You simply close your eyes, let go of your thoughts (to the extent possible), and take three slow, deep breaths through your nose, paying attention to your breathing.

The Rest Of The Story

Now, this won't get you into a deep meditative state, especially if you've never meditated before. Is this a reason not to do it? Not at all. You'll get what you get out of it, and that almost certainly includes a clearer mind and a reduction in stress.

Make it a ritual. For example, each time you get into your car, quietly do your three deep breaths. Having a regular "trigger" like this to remind you will keep you from procrastinating so often that you eventually forget to meditate altogether (isn't this typical when we don't make a habit out of the things we want to do?).

Want it to be a deeper experience? There's nothing wrong with just enjoying the relaxation created by three deep breaths, but you can go further, if you wish. Longer meditation will help, of course, but that isn't the only way.

If, when you have more time, you learn mindfulness, how to relax more fully, or better ways to let go of distractions in your mind, you can more effectively use that forty-five-seconds. You may even be able to get to that "alpha" state (brain wave frequecy of 8 to 12 hertz) during your short meditation.

Don't worry if some say this isn't "real" meditation. We walk before we run, and not everything has to be difficult to be of value. Why not do a forty-five-second meditation right now?

Relaxation does not have to take up a large portion of your day. By giving yourself just ten to fifteen minutes each day to relax, you are boosting your health. Relaxation does not mean napping. Many people confuse the two and believe that in order to relax, you need to take a nap. Relaxation means allowing yourself a few minutes to recoup and focus on you.

There are a lot of ways in which a person can relax. What works for you might not work for the next person. Try various methods and see what you like and what you don’t.

• Bath- Many people like to take baths to relax themselves. There are a number of different bath scents and oils to help. A good old-fashioned bubble bath is also a favorite.

• Candles- Use different scented candles to relax you. Light a couple in your room and lay or sit down to enjoy the aroma.

• Incense- Like the candle, these have a number of scents that can be used for different problems. Light one up and meditate to the scent.

• Music- From classical to rock, music has been helping people relax for years and will more than likely continue to be used for years to come.

• Massage- Spoil yourself and get a massage. Even if you only get a massage once in a while, it will really help you relax. It can even teach you how to relax when you are by yourself.

• Breathing- Focusing on your breathing every now and then is great to help you relax. Take a few minutes and breathe deeply. It does not matter where you are. Do this a few times and you will feel your body relax.

Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered binaural beats in 1839. While research about them continued after that, the subject basically remained a scientific curiosity until 134 years later, with the publishing of Gerald Oster's article "Auditory Beats in the Brain" (Scientific American, 1973). Oster's paper was landmark not so much for its own new laboratory findings, but rather that in the way in which it identified and tied together the isolated islands of relevant research done since Dove, in a way that gave the subject fresh insight and relevance to scientific research.

Lower level brain frequency, associated with deep sleep and meditation are not audible to humans, so an acoustic tone is generated using a technique called binaural beats. Another method is to produce tones that pulse at the desired frequencies. This is known by musicians as tremelo.

Brainwave entrainment has many historical, and often social, manifestations. Drum circles, chanting, and staring at a fire were all ways that our ancestors partook in the phenomenon.

You can find examples of BrainWaves relaxation tracks on MusicalRelaxation.com