Why and How Should You Practice Guided Meditation?

Why Do We Need to Meditate?

The mere thought of meditation is often mystifying and confusing to most aspirants embarking on the journey of self-realization. It aims to free the mind of any mental disturbance but not going blank. Since the mind can think many thoughts at once, the goal of sitting in silence is to discipline it to focus on a single idea at a time.

Also read: Are You Practicing The Yoga On Right Yoga Mat? | MevoLife

Being mindful and aware of our mind and soul, essentially the thoughts we are allowing and how we allow them can produce a state of awareness and knowledge. All it takes is silencing the mind and finding that inner peace, and persisting with the improvement. One needs a lot of discipline to do it but the process, once mastered, offers a deep sense of calmness for a lifetime.

Mindfulness is one of the most important aspects of monitoring one’s thoughts. It helps you focus on yourself by carefully sensing what you are feeling at a certain instant. Offered as guided meditation by a Yoga or Zen expert, it trains you to breathe deeply and to be aware of your surroundings (and yourself).

A Beginner’s Guide to Guided Meditation

Guided meditation is a comprehensive process in which one or more aspirants can avail quality guidance from a qualified expert. This is best done through virtual media using smartphones and internet connectivity for long-range communication and can be offered as an on-demand live or recorded session.

All you would need to get started with it are the following steps:

Know your reason
Find a teacher for yourself
Get yourself a premium yoga mat to practice
Relax 30 minutes before the sessions
Breathe deeply and turn off all distractions
Connect with your trainer online
Be receptive to the teacher’s instructions
Be positive and regular

You may choose from different exercise forms like Yoga, Zen, Tai-Chi, etc. to calm your psyche against your immediate environment. We recommend that you start with a deep resolve to bring this change to your life. You should also stick to it for a certain duration every day, no matter how hectic your schedule is.

Tip: Meditation is no monkey business. You should either go to a yoga studio or take regular online sessions for the same. Here’s a free resource on the topic you can check out.

Various forms of guided meditation

Technically these are not forms, they are all about the durations that one could do to meditate or reflect on oneself. For example, one may choose from guided meditation cycles for 2, 10, 15, 20, or any number of minutes. We are offering a beginner’s guide to help you do 20 minutes of this blissful exercise (you may reduce or expand it for as many minutes as you’d like).

Wondering how to meditate or do yoga? Here are the simple steps that you can follow to feel lighter and more at ease with yourself:

1.Think of why you want to meditate

2.Clean up your surroundings

3.Dim the lights in the room

4.Spray some fragrance, if required

5.Play some soulful and relaxing music

6.Unfold your yoga mat

7.Sit in a comfortable position

8.Mentally scan every part of your body

9.Breathe deeply

10.Focus on your respiration process

11.Tune out distractions

12.Think of sitting on a hill or near a sea

13.Visualize the sky

14.Read the motive behind your thoughts

15.Check for the emotions that come with it

16.Address and understand your thoughts

17.Try not to react emotionally to any thought

18.Do not think of how much time has passed

19.Make it a routine

20.Be positive and happy

You could choose to do this special type of contemplation exercise for the following reasons:

Self-love
To calm yourself down
To relax
To control anxiety and induce sleep

No matter how long you decide to sit in this position, it would serve you well to repeat the process every day and make it a habit.

Benefits of meditation

Here are some of the benefits of meditation. These are spread across our daily and routine lives to provide us with a deep sense of calmness. You would feel your strength rising after a few days and it would rather become your second nature to meditate regularly every day.

Here’s why you should consider starting Yoga, Zen, or likewise.

Reduces depression

Students sit in silence to focus their energies have a higher tolerance for anxiety, stress, and depression. They may also develop resilience to depression and other mental ailments over some time, besides a capacity to discharge their daily duties in a better way.

Did you know? The University of California conducted a study on patients with past depression, concluding that sitting mindfully decreases dysfunctional beliefs and depressing thoughts.

Improves decision-making skills

Did you know? The University of California conducted a study on patients with past depression, concluding that sitting mindfully decreases dysfunctional beliefs and depressing thoughts.

Improves decision-making skills

Studies have shown that sitting in contemplation regularly may help the brain to process information faster, a process called gyrification. Scientists also believe that the change is visible in comparison to those who do not contemplate doing such exercises as Yoga or Zen. The long-term benefits are just as credible, as they help you reach out to the inner reservoir of your strength.

Helps treat mental disorders

If you feel that you’re suffering from a disorder like GAD or ADHD, meditation should precede medication. We do not discount the need to consult a mental therapist early in the illness, but we would also ask you to understand the reasons for your discomfort. Focusing your energies would help you drive out your fears and anxiety and welcome inner peace.

Suggested article: Beating Depression with Exercise!

Can make you more tolerant of pain

A research group from the University of Montreal conducted an experiment in which Zen practitioners reported less pain than their neurological output from the fMRI indicated. So, even though their brain was receiving the same amount of pain input as others, they felt it much lesser.

Disclaimer: The art of learning mindfulness is easy but the task of quieting your mind can take years to master. If you keep at it, you will find inner peace and strength. Once you do it, there’s enough scientific evidence to back up that such calming exercises slow the aging of your brain.

How Long Should I Meditate To See Results?

This is an important question to ask. We would recommend that you start with three to five minutes intervals for yoga exercises, and you can then increase the duration subsequently. We also recommend checking with your yoga trainer for the best results.

1.Guided meditation is all about silencing one’s mind and it takes a lot of time and patience. One may start with as little as 5 minutes a day and then increasing the time durations. You should not do it for more than an hour any day.

2.Some people also mistake the quality of sitting in silence with oneself with the time duration they are sitting. If you are looking to know how many hours to meditate a day, you should start small and then gradually go all the way up.

It is not about how long you contemplate, it is about how well you contemplate the reason for your existence. Whatever way or time duration you start with, it is important to be regular and disciplined with it.

For more insights and expert guidance, download the Mevo app from App Store and Play Store. It offers several proven tips that you can use to focus your energies when you are reflecting on the higher purpose of your life.