Guided Meditation
An Introduction to Guided Meditation
Guided meditation involves someone talking you through a journey for a specific purpose like self-discovery or relaxation. It’s a great way to meditate if you don’t have any previous experience. Guided meditation is one of the easiest ways to achieve a profound state of relaxation and inner peace. It’s an effective tool to reduce stress and make impactful personal changes.
The most common definition of meditation is a practice or training that leads to healthy and positive mind states. This very simple action has some pretty powerful and profound impacts on your life. Practicing meditation helps you change your relationship with your thoughts. You are making a choice to not let your mind wander, and once you do that, you can gain control over your own thinking.
It’s useful to understand the distinction between meditation and mindfulness. Meditation is a technique (the activity) that promotes mindfulness (the result). The more constant your meditation practice is, the more mindful you may be in all aspects of your life.
An experienced meditation instructor leads guided meditations in person, via live broadcast, or by pre-recorded audio. There are a variety of guided meditations to pick from, and your choices may change depending on your mood, the time of day, and your meditation goals.
Guided Meditation at Wholistically Real
Wholistically Real offers 1:1 guided mediation sessions and group classes. Marie will welcome you into the studio and then ask you to sit comfortably, or you may lie down if you prefer. You will then follow Marie through a sequence of soothing visualizations along with breath work techniques. You will feel your body go from a state of fight or flight to a relaxed state as you disengage the sympathetic nervous system, and engage your parasympathetic nervous system. Stress slips away as you relax and become calmer, and your thinking gets clearer.
Your body systems will feel a sense of letting go of all the tension they are constantly holding onto. The goal is to allow your mind to understand that there is no longer any danger to look out for. When you are in a constant state of flight or fight, this causes the body to break down in slow, subtle but definite ways. A constant flow of cortisol is toxic to a body that wants to restore, heal and thrive.
When you practice meditation, companioned with breath work, you are teaching your body how to do this automatically. It will keep you in a state of control and ease throughout your day. The guided meditation techniques that you “act out” in your mind, also work as a training and teaching tool to create a sense of peace and calm in your body.
Your mind and body will learn to rationalize and think things through before it has the chance to go into panic mode. Your subconscious will be able to embody the knowing state of mind that -” no matter what happens, everything will be ok”. This will also allow you to tap into your innate intuition. This means that when there is a real danger, you will know to either steer clear or you will know how to navigate danger, long before it is right in front of you.
These techniques will allow your vagus nerve to cleanse and strengthen. The vegas nerve is the main nerve that runs from the back of your skull to the bottom of your tail bone. This is the main line of communication between your gut and brain. It is in charge of constant signals and messages between your brain and your second brain, the gut, or your entire digestive system. Thus when the vagus nerve is stressed or numb, those signals are not transmitted and/or received properly.
While you are in this deeply relaxed state, your subconscious is open to positive suggestions. Marie will use this time to take you on an inner trip to enhance one or more elements of your life. A guided meditation might focus on promoting personal empowerment and positive thinking. Another might concentrate on emotional recovery or spiritual growth. Marie might guide you on a journey to help you reach your full potential, or you may choose a guided meditation for the pure pleasure of deep relaxation. You may choose a guided mediation to work on your chakras or a specific chakra that needs clearing, opening, unblocking, and balancing.
Benefits of Guided Meditation
Specific and deeper chakra balancing sessions are also available with Marie.
There are options to choose from 60 minute or 90 minute sessions. Your session will include health and healing coaching. This is to assess and process what experiences you may have during your session. This coaching will take the form of a safe conversation or a journaling activity.
Marie also has a selection of guided mediation audios for sale. Selecting pre-recorded meditations allows you to experience extra sessions at your convenience.
- Consistent practice of guided meditation can help you change your response to stress, recover from stressful situations more easily, and experience less stress in your everyday life.
- Studies have shown that guided meditation can help with pain management. Your perception of pain links to your mental state, so practicing meditation can reduce pain. It can also have a positive effect on depression in those who suffer from chronic pain.
- The regular practice of guided mediation can enhance innovation and creativity. Your calm state of mind will be open to exploring new ideas. It also provides the perfect conditions to access your creative inspiration.
- The deep relaxation experienced promotes a slower heart rate, a decrease in blood pressure, and deeper breathing.
- Guided meditation increases confidence and personal empowerment. It helps you to gain a better understanding of yourself and how to become your best self.
- Meditation can help you open your heart and heal relationships. It allows you to become more accepting and increases contentment. You will also be less likely to hold onto past resentments that may be influencing your current relationships.
- It improves negativity or self-defeating behaviors. Not only will you be able to cope better with negative emotions, but guided meditation can also actually rewire your brain towards more positive emotions and thoughts.
- Improves performance in business, sports, or study, allowing you to cope better with the pressures related to success or exams. It boosts your decision-making and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, it enhances your memory and learning abilities.
- Guided mediation can lead to an increase in empathy and kindness. You may find that you have the clarity to see things from another’s perspective more easily and make fewer snap judgments.