So What About Guided Meditation?

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We’ve talked a lot in the last four weeks about tips for cultivating a successful meditation practice. This has been with the thought that you are performing a specific technique in the comfort of your own space. However many people that I talk with are more interested in guided meditation.

Why is this?

Here are the most common reasons I’ve come across:

  • Needing a guide: It seems that the reason for this is that people find it easier to quiet the mind with a guide. And the thing here is this, guided meditation or not, there is a guide. It’s just that sometimes, that guide is you and sometimes it is someone else.
  • Looking to alleviate specific symptoms: For this guided meditation can be wonderful. There are so many different things you can do from deep relaxation, to body scanning, to working with chakras, enhancing performance (and the list goes on and on)… and this way, you don’t have to have all the answers yourself.

Here is the most overlooked detail that I find for those of you in scenario #1. You still have to develop your awareness. You will still have stray thoughts while listening to your guided meditation and will still need to bring your awareness back to the guide. It may be slightly easier in that the guides voice doesn’t sound just like your own voice. So what this means is that, using guided meditations can help you grow in your awareness to the point that you can begin to self-guide. 

One important point to make... I hold guided meditation sessions and sometimes people’s minds still stray and they are surprised. They feel like that “isn’t supposed to happen during a guided meditation.” But the mind’s job is still to think thoughts; nothing has changed here. And just because you have a guide for your meditation, this does not ensure that your mind will stay on task. So, there is no reason to be surprised and definitely no reason to feel that it wasn’t successful. Just as we spoke about last week, here, this is where compassion comes in. Gently bring yourself back to the guide.

And if you find yourself in scenario #2 above, wonderful…  knowing your goal / what you are looking to achieve is paramount. Some people need help letting go of stress so that they can relax. Looking for guided meditations that provide this will be key. If you’re working on performance you’ll need something different. I say this and it seems obvious I’m sure when you’re reading it. But this can be an issue if you know that you need some guided meditation but you haven’t tuned in to yourself enough to know your objective. I have definitely seen this before. So, take a few deep centering breaths, and ask yourself, “What would I like to gain from this experience?” Then let this information guide you to your ideal meditation source.

Regardless of your reasons for using guided meditation as a tool, I congratulate you for taking steps into the world of meditation. It can be daunting at times if you are new to the language, the props, etc. It can really be its own sub-culture. AND it is a wonderful tool for wellbeing that you can use anywhere at any time.

If you have any questions or suggestions for additional meditation topics, contact me. I'd love to hear from you.  

Meanwhile, happy sitting….

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And our last post in the series:

·      Why all the talk about meditation in the first place?!