Guided Meditation: What It Is, Types And Functions
We live in a society that forces us to be in constant movement. Going to work, studying for final exams, supporting our family, and other concerns cause us stress and negative feelings.
While we focus our actions on others and have to do what our daily lives demand, we forget to take care of the most important people in our lives: ourselves.
Connecting with our interior becomes necessary in these situations and meditation is a good technique to achieve this. However, meditating is not an easy task and that is why it is necessary to turn to experts to guide us. In this article Let’s see what guided meditation is what benefits it entails and we will talk about some types.
Guided meditation is a tool that allows us, through words and images, to let go of negative emotions such as pain, stress and everyday worries, helping us connect with our interior.
This technique has become increasingly popular. On the one hand, for the need to manage stress of today’s society and, on the other, for the fact that it is a tool that is easily applicable on a daily basis with the appropriate help.
The way guided meditation is done is quite simple. A person who acts as an expert in meditation, such as a guru or spiritual guide, is responsible for offering a series of instructions to help interested people achieve a state of relaxation.
With his expert knowledge, whoever directs the meditation helps to focus on the personal goals of those who come to him. These goals can be a better emotional state in general, acceptance of a situation in which you have no control or psychological preparation towards a specific objective. It is for this reason that it is widely used in the training of elite athletes.
To carry it out you can attend specialized workshops and gyms, but there is also the possibility of doing it from home, because you do not need much space or too many resources to meditate. On the Internet you can find hundreds of videos explaining different types of meditations, in addition to selling CDs, videos and very detailed books.
What benefits does it entail?
By using this technique, the person can achieve well-being, thanks to the fact that it contributes to achieving a state of calm and provides mental and physical satisfaction. Additionally, if used properly, has a positive impact on both physical and psychological health
Some of the benefits of meditations of this type are:
Types of guided meditation
There may be several reasons why a guided meditation is necessary. That is why there are different types, used according to the type of problem of those who require it.
1. Traditional meditations
The spiritual guide or guru gives the instructions orally, guiding whoever is listening to introduce them into a meditative state. There are usually many pauses of silence, and it is not common to accompany them with music.
The purpose of this type of meditation can be very varied, but they are usually used to start or to maintain the state of calm
2. Meditation with visualization
You are invited to imagine an object or scene with the intention of achieving greater relaxation. Very recurring resources are the rays of light of different colors, each of them representing an emotion with which we are going to work
3. Relaxation and body scan
Its purpose is to achieve the maximum degree of relaxation at the body level. The person becomes aware of all parts of their body and even your body temperature.
They are usually accompanied by music or relaxing sounds of nature, managing to introduce whoever is guided into a state of deep calm.
4. Binaural tones
According to physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, when two sounds with different frequencies are presented to each ear, the mind tries to reconcile the difference by creating a third wave. Headphones are placed and audio is presented in which a different sound is presented on each side
According to followers of this type of guided meditation, using binaural tones stimulates alpha waves and allows you to connect with your inner self.
5. Affirmations
Instead of thinking negatively, such as “I’m going to give up”, “I’m not good for this”, “it’s going to hurt”, it is proposed to reformulate these thoughts in a more optimistic format: “I have good health”, “I have come very far”. ”, “if I am here it is because of my effort and my determination.”
6. Guided breathing awareness meditation
We breathe at all times and yet we do not pay enough attention to it to this natural process.
The premise behind this type of guided meditation is that if you can control something as simple and fundamental as breathing, you can train your mind in almost any aspect.
7. Mindfulness
In the West, a philosophical current has emerged that is compatible with the foundations behind meditation: Mindfulness or Full Attention.
Mindfulness has been gaining fame because it is not linked to a religion unlike other meditations in which they talk about chakras and ideas extracted from Buddhism and Hinduism.
Another peculiarity of this type of meditation is the fact that it does not have to be done sitting still. You can enter a state of mindfulness whether walking down the street, doing the dishes, or even in the shower.
The fundamental thing is to concentrate on what you are doing and the sensations it produces.
8. Guided meditations to sleep better
They are the most popular especially due to the fact that we live in a society in which schedules prevent us from having adequate sleeping habits.
Many people have trouble sleeping and, when they go to bed, they calculate how much time they have before they have to get up to go to work. The problem is that the more you want to sleep, the harder it is to achieve it.
Guided meditations to sleep better They offer a series of instructions that help you achieve sleep in a natural and unforced way
While trying to sleep, you can review what has happened throughout the day, detecting those negative emotions to gradually put them aside.
