Guided Meditation.

 Yes, I know we are all busy.  This year, they took away my planning period and left me with little to no time to plan, correct papers or figure out how to teach a couple of new programs.  Talk about stress.  One suggested activity that can help with stress and falls under the category of self care is meditation.  If you are just starting out, guided meditation is a great way to go.

Guided meditation is considered part of the mindfulness movement and is one of the easiest things to access.  In guided meditation, there is a voice that guides us through our meditation. Often people find it difficult to focus because the mind tends to wander, exploring things that pop into our minds.  The guiding voice keeps our minds from darting place to place.

Guided meditation helps our minds be calm instead of darting place to place.  In general, our minds are quite busy, thinking about what needs to be done, thinking of things from the past, friends, relatives, situations, and these sessions help train our minds to stay in the moment, in the present.  

Guided meditation might include having you visualize certain things to help anchor you and your mind, so you become comfortable with the process.  Once a person becomes used to meditation, the process might move from visualization to more in the moment, feeling.  A guided meditation is lead by someone who periodically gives directions. This voice might be provided by the leader of a live class, a pre-recorded session found on an app, a youtube video, a CD, or even via a show.  

Meditation is a good way to help relieve stress and using guided meditation can help ease you into the process so it is less stressful taking up a new self-care activity.  In addition, meditation can help a person relax or become relaxed enough to easily fall asleep.  

On Wednesday, we'll look at why you should include guided meditation in your life.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.