To meditate is to focus on an image or mantra, or focus on nothingness. The point of meditation is to disengage from the tendency to think, plan, and talk in your head. Reaching a peaceful state of being on your spiritual journey involves releasing thoughts, feelings, and actions that hinder you from achieving your highest good. Meditation is a big part of self-discovery and personal awareness. Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace, and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and overall health. You can also use it to relax and cope with stress by refocusing your attention on something calming. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.
Many have found that meditation can also be difficult. It is about connecting with your mind and learning to quiet it instead of letting it run wild. That sounds a lot easier than it is.
When starting out, having an expert lead you through the basic steps of your meditation practice is recommended. Our minds wander so easily, and the clear instructions of a teacher can help bring us back to the present moment. This practice is called guided meditation.
Guided meditation is a type of meditation led by a teacher; in person or via audio or video. It is a form of stress relief conducive to relaxing the entire body, by finding a way to release stress, regain peace and calm the sympathetic nervous system. Guided meditation may utilize soothing photographs or scenarios to enhance the ability of the mind to relax and allow the body to relax so that the person in meditation can find a true sense of inner peace. Quite often, guided meditation will involve soft music or sounds of nature.
One of the most important components of a successfully guided meditation session is to be in an area free of distractions. Any outside interference will prevent proper concentration and make your attempts at guided meditation futile and perhaps even frustrating, further aggravating the problem seeking to be solved through guided meditation. After finding a suitable location for guided meditation, other factors need to be considered. Some practitioners of guided meditation feel that using visual stimuli can help achieve a sense of inner peace and help to achieve true relaxation. Still, other practitioners of guided meditation feel that any outside visual simulation will detract from the mind's ability to properly focus on the body and the results of the meditation will be hindered or even reversed. The same can be said for audio stimulation during sessions of guided meditation. While some individuals believe that soothing sound effects or even quiet music are conducive to guided meditation, still others believe it is only a hindrance and will do nothing more than create a harmful atmosphere for the practitioner of such guided meditation.
The basic concept of guided meditation is to relax. This is done by taking oneself on a guided tour of sorts through your own body. In the practice of guided meditation, you can typically begin by finding a focus point on the body and start there, someplace that is distraction-free. While staying focused on the body and the particular muscles, the practitioner attempts to relax the muscles of his/her body. Allowing the body to completely relax, permits the complete relaxation of the mind. When the mind and body are completely relaxed, the person can begin to concentrate on focusing his thoughts and ideas during the guided meditation.
When using guided meditation, thoughts are usually thought to be transcendent and more in focus allowing the practitioner to perform better in all aspects of life. Whether or not guided meditation is right for a person is not only dependent on spiritual beliefs. Anyone contemplating the benefits of guided meditation must be seeking to improve themselves as a whole as well.
Because, if you’re starting meditation with the intent to fix anything, you will set yourself up for a lot of frustration and the increased chance of failure.