Meditation has been a part of many people’s lives for centuries. Whether it’s for religious reasons, clearing one’s mind or just taking five minutes for yourself, most people have at least heard of meditation. However, a lot of people don’t know about the plethora of health benefits from meditation.

With Dead Week and Finals Week right around the corner, take a minute for yourself and meditate.

When you meditate, you clear the information overload that builds up each day and can lead to stress, according to an article on the Mayo Clinic’s website.

A few of the emotional benefits of meditation include gaining a new perspective with stressful situations, increasing focus on the present and reducing negative emotions.

Meditation has proven to be helpful for people who have a medical condition. Some of these illnesses, which are listed below, are also heightened by stress, which is why meditation can be helpful. A few of these illnesses include asthma, cancer, depression, sleep problems and high blood pressure.

A variety of styles of meditation can be used almost anywhere you would usually go to study for finals. A common and well-known type of meditation is yoga, which is offered in classes at State Gym. YouTube contains a variety of beginner yoga tutorials with an instructor.

A few other ways to meditate that are more solely focused on the mind include mantra, mindfulness and transcendental meditation.

Mantra meditation is relatively simple; one must simply silently repeat a word or phrase to prevent distractions. This can be a name of someone who calms you down, a favorite location of yours or a word that you associate with being calm. Repeating this word silently with your eyes closed can help to clear your mind and shut out the rest of the world for a while.

Mindfulness meditation focuses on becoming more mindful of the present time. Rather than repeating a word or phrase, focus on inhaling and exhaling to help increase your awareness of the present moment and work through thoughts and emotions.

Transcendental meditation means repeating a personal mantra you have used for numerous years and is specific to you. This is another simple form of meditation that allows the body to relax into a state of rest and helps people find their inner peace.

Since Dead Week and Finals Week are looming, take a minute for yourself, practice a few ways of meditating to clear your mind and focus on the task at hand.