ThirstyFish

Almost all Occupy camps around the country have Meditation Working Groups that hold regular meditation sessions. As can be seen in this photo taken on Occupy May Day at Union Square, participants follow a diverse set of spiritual traditions.

Various forms of meditation, techniques of spiritual introspection to train the mind and to induce a certain state of consciousness, are found in almost all religions and spiritual disciplines. Although at its infancy, research on meditation is beginning to show that meditation changes the brain, especially regions involved with empathy and compassion. Other studies show that meditation can lower blood pressure naturally and may have other health benefits. Meditation practice can induce a state of mindfulness, where we become focused in our present experience. Although mindfulness sounds like a sure thing, it is baffling how most of us actually get through each experience mindlessly, switching back and forth between the past and the future. Rather be "here and now", we miss the present, constantly interrupted by our thoughts, our cellphones and our gadgets, living life as zombies...

More Occupy photos.

Song of the Day: Stone in Focus - Aphex Twin (1994)