Meditation is used for many reasons, for relxation, to relax a nervous mind, and for some connecting to deeper parts of reality.
It has a long history in the East for thousands of years, it's been a central part of spritual practice.
Other parts of the world have been slower to appreciate it's benefits.
It is now seen as an amazing pracice which can bring relaxation, inner growth and understanding.
Meditation is not a simple process involving just closing your eyes and doing nothing. It is a method inwhich you focus your mind on a single point of concerntration.
When this is achieved, something amazing happens, the outer mind (monkey mind to Buddhists), which is always darting from one thought to another slows down. The mediator is then totally centered, and mind, body and spirit are bought into harmony.
Meditation is the first step for incredible self-discovery.