Instead of watching TV when she needs to relax, junior Alana Murao meditates.

Murao is one of a handful of students who mediate. While meditation is said to have originated in Eastern religions, the practice can be found in some form in almost every major religion today. However, some people also meditate non-religiously.

Most people meditate in order to relax, relieve stress, focus and achieve general inner peace. In fact, researchers led by Prashant Kaul at the University of Kentucky recently proved that meditation increases alertness better than caffeine, exercise or napping.

Murao, who has been meditating since the age of five, uses this benefit to her advantage. Murao, a Buddhist, frequently meditates before she studies for tests in order to help her to focus. Although she does not meditate regularly, she estimates that she does so about twice a week. “It’s very lenient—you do it whenever you need to,” Murao said. “You don’t do it so much when you’re stressed out or mad, it’s just when you’re feeling like you need to leave the busy world for awhile and completely clear your mind of everything.”

Murao said that emptying her mind is not as easy as it sounds. “Sometimes you’ll just have so much on your mind that you’ll have to think about stuff first to let it go,” she said.

While some meditation techniques focus on ridding your mind of other thoughts, Murao thinks differently. “It’s not so much pushing everything else out as it is letting go of everything,” she said.

Junior Shounak Dharap, who recently learned to meditate, cited breathing as the most integral part of meditating. Dharap took a secular meditation class over the summer at the Art of Living foundation in Santa Clara and has been practicing ever since. “You’re basically just focusing on your breathing,” he said. “It’s a specific pattern of deep breaths and shallow breaths that you repeat a certain amount of times.”

Dharap meditates in the morning in order to help him relax and get energized before he goes to school. “ You feel really well rested after it,” he said. “It gives me more focus for school.”

Like Dharap, senior E.T. Minor, who identifies herself as Wiccan, finds that meditation helps her to be more productive. “[After I meditate] I’m just ready to do something and take on whatever I need to take on,” she said. “I feel very connected to everything.”

Sophomore Isaac Klapholz-Brown has been meditating sporadically for the past few months. “[I meditate] whenever I need to balance my ‘qi’ (pronounced chee),” he said. Klapholz-Brown described “qi,” a Mandarin word meaning energy, as “whatever keeps you centered.”

Klapholz-Brown defined meditation as relaxation. “You’re basically just supposed to chill and focus on something and just forget everything else,” he said. “

Minor said that while some aspects of meditation can be learned, it is actually a deeply personal activity. “You can get tips from other people but ultimately it’s something you have to pull together,” she said.

Interested in meditation?

The following organizations offer classes for beginners:

• The Transcendental Meditation Center on Embarcadero Road
• The Palo Alto YMCA on Ross Road
• The Unitarian Universalist Church on E. Charleston