1. A typically self-directed practice for relaxing the body and calming the mind: Most medical meditation procedures have come to the West from Eastern religious practices; especially, from India, China, and Japan, but it can also be found in many other cultures of the world.

Until recently, the primary objective of meditation was religious, although its health benefits have also been recognized, and so during the last decades, medical meditation has been explored as a way of reducing stress on both the body and the mind.

2. A state of consciousness in which an individual strives to eliminate environmental stimuli so one's mind has a single focus that produces a condition of relaxation and a relief from stress: Dr. Diedrich told June, his patient, that the primary objectives of medical meditations are to clear her mind of stressful outside interferences.