Meditation students do some stretching exercises before meditating at the Institute for Applied Meditation at Providence Institute.

photos by David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

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An hour of meditation can leave you feeling as though you've had a refreshing nap.

Worries slip away; crankiness subsides. A feeling of bliss and contentment takes over.

These feelings arise because mediation, like sleep, lessens sensory input and allows stillness and the processing of emotions, said Susanna Bair, who teaches Heart Rhythm Meditation through the Institute for Applied Meditation in Tucson.

"Your mind and emotions are cleansed and you can eventually move into a deeper consciousness," Bair said.

Mindful meditation, loosely defined, is a practice that involves turning attention from the outside world to the inner self. It's often done sitting still, although it can involve movement that stretches the body in conjunction with recognizing and controlling the breath.

Meditation is a part of numerous religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, but many Tucson meditation centers focus on the practice for stress relief, health and good character. It's often described as a spiritual practice, with no affiliation to any one God.

Most of us aren't always aware of the speed of our thoughts or the depth of our emotions until they disturb our routine. Sleeplessness often results from these symptoms, Bair said, and can be relieved by focusing inward, embracing silence and noticing the breath and feelings in the body.

Meditation isn't terribly different from yoga, although Bair says the stillness of meditation allows a quicker and deeper understanding of the inner self and consciousness.

Debbie Daly, owner of Tucson Yoga, agrees that meditation is often a quicker way to relieve stress and focus on thought and emotions.

"It's easier to cheat yourself in yoga and go through the physical act but not be aware your mind is still churning and very busy," said Daly, who teaches both yoga and meditation.

A first sit at Tucson Community Meditation Center can feel a lot like Shavasana, a still yoga pose done at the end of a practice designed to relax the whole body.

Guided by a tape, participants focus on their breath and the way it feels from the inhale through the nose all the way down to the lower body.

The breath was also the focus of Heart Rhythm Meditation, taught by Bair. In this class, we did "rhythmic breathing," in which you inhale a certain number of counts, then hold for double the amount of time, then exhale the same number of counts you inhaled. We followed that practice with "Fire breathing," an inhalation through a slightly open mouth, then exhalation through the nose. It felt very calming for many of the participants, who varied from people who've been meditating for decades to newbies and professionals who had just left the office.

This might sound New Agey and perhaps even a bit hokey to the uninitiated, but embracing mindfulness and focusing on breath, stillness and silence can relax the body, slow thoughts and control emotions.

Of course, the experience varies for everyone.

"It can be very calming to watch the breath and feel it as it is, without trying to change it," Daly says. It's important to note that each meditation can feel differently, depending upon the day and the person. There's also no such thing as a bad meditation, she said, because we should accept how we feel in the moment, rather than judge it.