The most popular form of meditation practiced in the west is mindfulness meditation. With its roots in Buddhist styles of meditation, mindfulness meditation encourages the practitioner to sit quietly and observe their thoughts, feelings, and emotions as they pass through the mind without judging or involving oneself in the patterns. This form of meditation is easy to practice alone without the guidance of a teacher. Yogic meditation is another popular form of meditation that is based on the ancient practices of yoga. By making the mind one-pointed and concentrated, the practitioner uses yogic meditation techniques to realize the true eternal self. Meditation is one of the “eight limbs,” or eight parts, of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga system as outlined in his classic yogic text “The Yoga Sutras.” Other forms of popular meditation, though not necessarily traditional, are transcendental meditation, loving-kindness meditation, vipassana meditation, and mantra meditation.