Guided Meditation...?

I recently had a request to do a post regarding guided mediation, and I know that a lot of people don't know exactly what it is. To be honest, I vaguely knew what it was and what the point of it was. But I knew it had benefits, I just didn't know exactly what those were.

So here I am, once again, to talk to you about something that I don't know much about but I took the time to research. If you would like, please continue reading this very informative post. If not, feel free to skip out on this one :) my feelings won't be hurt!

What is Guided Meditation?

Guided Mediation is when you are guided by a narrator to produce a change in your life, most people use this for anxiety and/or to help you better your sleep. You are guided to relax your body and mind, “to help you reach a deep meditative state before going on a journey, in your mind, to reach a specific goal” (source 1).

How Does Guided Meditation Work?

According to Guidedmind.com, your brain doesn’t distinguish between a real event and an imagined event. So, if you imagine something in your mind, your brain takes it that you’ve experienced what you were imagining and forms new neuro-pathways to be stored for future use. What guided meditation does, is give you a new, better experience by having a narrator guide you through a scene in your mind. As always, these scenes are positive and will supposedly change your brain’s neuro-pathways to install a greater experience for you.

So, What Even Are the Benefits of Guided Meditation?

There are a lot of benefits, that I didn’t even know about, that are correlated with guided meditation! Below I have listed just a few, that I found from a little research I did…

· Helps relieve stress and lowers risk for depression

· Reducing pain

· Helping you fall asleep and improving your sleep quality (I can attest to this, my husband personally found solstice in guided meditations on an App called Calm)

· Treating mental disorders, like bipolar disorder/manic depression, eating disorders and more

· Improving decision making and communicating (uhm…I need this in my life!)

· Boosting productivity at work (also needed…)

· Improving memory, focus and mental performance

Those are just a few benefits, you can find more at https://draxe.com/health/treatments/guided-meditation/ if you would like to have more information and read more up on the benefits of guided mediation.

How to Practice Guided Meditation?

(The following information is pulled from https://draxe.com/health/treatments/guided-meditation/).

First thing’s first, the basics. You should establish a daily practice. Like anything, meditation takes time and practice to learn in order to fully benefit from its experience, so consistency is important. But remember, be patient with yourself!

Next, choose a location and time everyday to practice where you won’t be disturbed, and which allows you to feel safe and focus.

Then, learn proper posture; the goal is to remain upright, tall and balanced in an upright posture with your back straight, which allows you to breathe deeply.

When meditating, again, be patient with yourself. Drop any judgment that you might have against yourself and have a goal to keep yourself from getting frustrated, overwhelmed or disappointed with your wandering mind.

Now, here are the instructions, word-for-word, step-by-step, on how to practice guided meditation:

1. Set your intention

· Your intentions set the stage for what is possible during your meditation and what benefits you’ll take away.

2. Take time to relax the body

· Pay attention to areas where you likely hold some tension, including your jaw, eyebrows, around the eyes, forehead, chest, belly and neck.

3. Pay close attention to your senses

· Focusing on the body’s sensations settles the wandering mind and helps ground you

4. Investigate what you’re feeling

· Ask yourself if anything feels unpleasant, painful, or difficult, or reminds you of any past events that stick out.

5. Keep coming back to the body

· Keep coming back to the body with breath sensations, while working on disengaging from what is popping into your mind.

How to Get Started with Guided Meditation?

This part is the easy part, in my opinion. There are so many resources out there that can help you get started with guided meditation, like online music services, podcasts, mindfulness websites, apps, YouTube, and places like Yoga studios. Find out what one works for you and what is more convenient for you. Like I mentioned earlier, my husband uses an App that works great for him! For me, I haven’t really experimented enough to know what works for me, if anything does! But that’s a goal I am going to set for myself for the next upcoming weeks.

Also, set aside that time to meditate, whether it’s a set schedule or just whenever you get the chance. Have that time set aside for you to do you and to be able to try and practice your guided meditation.

I will leave you all with that load of information that I have just thrown at you and hope that it finds you well and thriving on this self-care journey you are on with me. I will try my hardest to find time to meditate, though I know I will fail more at first than anything. But I will make the most of it!

I hope my self-care journey can be the light in your life, and help you through any trials or tribulations that you might be facing.

With Love,

Mell W.

Works Cited

Source 1: https://www.guidedmind.com/how-it-works

Source 2: https://draxe.com/health/treatments/guided-meditation/

Source 3: https://www.verywellmind.com/guided-meditation-getting-started-4174283