Guided meditation has become one of the most popular forms of meditation in modern society. Guided meditation offers a fantastic introduction to meditating, and is the easiest way to meditate. It provides a means of focus, because you are listening to a calming voice guiding you to deeper levels of consciousness you may not yet know how to reach on your own. You may find that adding guided meditation to your repertoire vastly improves your ability to meditate, along with the beneficial results you experience.
Meditation is a subject everyone has heard of but many people know little about. For some who are curious but skeptical, guided meditation offers the perfect solution. With the advent of recording machines and especially the internet, guided meditations have proliferated, allowing many millions of people to take advantage of them.
Essentially, guided meditations involve soothing music or sounds of nature, along with the voice of a ‘guide,’ who leads the listener through the meditation. Methods and stories vary greatly, but often you’ll find that the first step is to focus on your breathing, to calm and center your mind. You may also be lead through a relaxation process, perhaps going through your body and focusing on relaxing different parts sequentially, or imagining going down a long, descending staircase. After several minutes, your mind will be much calmer and will enter a meditative state.
Once you are deeply relaxed, guided meditations will continue leading you verbally through the session, perhaps creating some visualizations for you to enjoy, or repeating some affirmations. Affirmations are statements which set your goals and dreams in a positive manner as if they are already achieved, thus training your subconscious mind what you want it to think. Examples include ‘I am happy, healthy and full of joy’ and ‘I am prosperous and I feel better and better every day” but can be anything you want and include any subject. When your mind is in a meditative state, it is more open to suggestion, thus listening to positive and empowering affirmations is very effective.
TIP: Make sure you set aside enough time to do your guided meditations fully, without interruption. Also ensure you are comfortable, and won’t be distracted by feeling cold or cramped.
When you are looking for guided meditations, not all programs are created equal and some are better than others. Trial and error will lead you to what works well for you. You may find it useful to try out an individual or company’s meditations before investing in them. Look for free examples, such as the Secret Garden meditation from Meditainment. Meditainment has developed a solid, worldwide reputation and their amazing products are extremely popular - several major airlines even include them in their in-flight entertainment systems!
