Here is a brief podcast on mantra meditation.  This is something you can do if you need to center yourself.  It works if you are experiencing depression, hypertension, pain and discomfort, or any number if maladies.

Your mind can gets into negative habits and these habits enthrall the mind in a ritual of degeneration.  Mantras are a way of re-setting your mind/body/spirit complex, so you can be more in the present moment.