Meditation is the journey to the inner self, getting detached from the outer world through Relaxation and Concentration.
1. Relaxation: Through deep relaxation you can control mind to be unaffected by small messages from the outer body which reacts having influenced from the outer world disturbing the mind. So the biggest problem is the mental restlessness. This enemy is tamed and controlled by concentration.
2. Concentration: The concentration is a gift of god to all of us. Concentration is build by God in human nature. The concentration is the basic of advancement or success in any area of life, like, work, sports, activities, research and discovery and so on and so forth. All of the successful athletes, businessmen, scientists, artists, writers etc., have the ability to concentrate when they were at success.
3. "So Hans" Method: So means I am, Hans means Super soul. That means, I am Super soul. We have in built ability to concentrate, and the same is connected to breathing. Kindly observe, how steady is your breathing while you thread a needle, walk a tight rope, lift boiling milk from the stove. So when the mind and energy are calm and focused, our breath too is calm.
The reverse is also true.
In yoga, breathing exercises exert influence on mind. They are known as Pranayamas , the control of Prana or Life-Force.
Please note, if you limit Pranayama to the physical level only, then it is only a set of physical exercises.