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Life is often filled with ups and downs. One moment, it can feel like you are on top of the world and the next moment, it can feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. During challenging times like this, guided meditation can be a powerful tool to support your mental and physical well-being, far beyond relaxation.
Let’s take a look at what guided meditation is, the different types, and its benefits. You’ll also be able to find some free soothing guided meditation audios for your listening below.
What is Guided Meditation?
Guided meditation can be simply defined as a type of meditation that is voice-led. It is usually a guide or mindfulness teacher who will lead you through the meditation exercise.
You may also find that guided meditations utilize various techniques such as visualization, breathing techniques, or mindfulness to help you ground yourself and cultivate inner peace. Most meditations are on average, around 10 to 25 minutes long.
It generally differs from unguided meditation practice whereby the practitioner can choose their own meditation techniques, for how long, and place to meditate.
Benefits of Guided Meditation
In general, meditation brings a sense of calm, inner peace, and balance in the present moment. It can be used as a tool to help you find your center, reduce your stress levels, and promote overall relaxation [1].
The emotional and physical benefits of meditation include:
- Cultivating a positive mindset
- Building self-awareness
- Reducing negative thoughts
- Focusing on the present
- Increasing your patience
- Reducing sleep problems
- Reducing headaches
- Coping with depression and anxiety
- Enhances focus and concentration
- Promotes healing
As you can see, there are several benefits of incorporating meditation into your daily life. At the same time, it’s important to note that meditation does not serve as a replacement for medical treatment. If you are struggling with a sleep disorder or any other medical condition, you should seek the support of a healthcare professional.
See also: 9 Relaxing Sounds to Sleep Better and Relieve Stress
Types of Guided Meditations
If you are new to meditation, you may find that it gets rather overwhelming with so many different types of meditation practice to choose from.
Here are some of the more common types of guided meditations, each serving different purposes:
Mindfulness meditation: Mindfulness meditation is about focusing on the present moment, and being aware of your thoughts and how you feel. It is good for reducing stress and improving your self-awareness.
Loving-kindness meditation: This meditation focuses on positive affirmations and being kind and loving towards yourself and others.
Body scan meditation: This meditation involves guiding your attention to the different parts of your body to release tension. It works great for relieving excessive physical stress and tension.
Breathing meditation: This meditation technique focuses on breathwork to calm the mind and improve your focus.
Guided imagery meditation: This is the use of visualization techniques to create a peaceful and calming atmosphere. It also trains your creativity.
Gratitude meditation: This practice focuses on cultivating feelings of gratitude to help you adopt a positive mindset and attitude to things.
Finding the right guided meditation technique requires you to explore the different options until you find a voice and style that is suitable and relaxing to listen to.
Free Guided Meditation Audio
In case you aren’t sure how to get started on practicing guided meditations, here are some free guided meditation audio from the ShutEye® app to help you get started.
20 Min Guided Meditation For Sleep: Running River Visualization
Here is a 20-minute guided meditation audio to help you get in the mood for bedtime. Visualize the gentle sounds of a flowing river, its soothing rhythm washing away the day’s stress and tension.
9-Min Guided Meditation for Anxiety: Cultivating Inner Peace
Find a sense of calm and cultivate inner peace with this 9-minute guided meditation to ease anxiety. This audio is great for a quick reset whenever you need it.
9-Min Guided Meditation for Healing: Heal Yourself From Within and Find Joy
Heal yourself from within and find the joy in life with this guided meditation. It utilizes soothing affirmations to help you find balance and restore the peace in yourself.
11-Min Guided Meditation for Relaxation: Progressive Muscle Relaxation To Release Tension
Gently release any bodily tension with this progressive muscle relaxation meditation exercise. Focus on tuning into your body and deeply relax yourself. It is perfect for quick stress relief.
Tips for Effective Guided Meditation Practice
Here are also some tips that can help you to ensure that you are maximizing your guided meditation sessions.
- Start small: Don’t be quick to rush into things. As beginners, always start with short meditations before progressing into longer periods. Explore different techniques until you find a suitable one.
- Be consistent: It’s important to stay consistent with your meditation practices. Being consistent is a way to ensure that the meditations work for you.
- Find a comfortable place: Ensure that you are in a comfortable and quiet space without any disturbances before each meditation session.
- Focus on your breath: During your meditations, bring some attention to how you’re breathing and ensure that you are breathing slowly and deeply. This trains your self-awareness.
- Be patient: Always be patient and gentle with yourself, especially at the beginning. Getting into the practice of meditation is never easy so it’s important to exercise self-kindness.
Additional Resources
If you enjoyed reading this article, do also check out other articles in our meditation series below.
Can Meditation Replace Sleep for Rest and Recovery?
Meditation For Sleep: Benefits, Techniques, Tips For Better Sleep
5 Best Meditation Apps In 2024
Conclusion
Guided meditation is a powerful tool that can provide several emotional and physical benefits such as cultivating inner peace, building self-awareness, reducing negative thoughts, reducing sleep problems, and much more. By incorporating it into your daily routine, you can expect gradual improvements in your mental health and overall well-being.
For more soothing meditation audios, do check out the ShutEye® app. ShutEye® is a sleep-tracking app that offers relaxing sleep sounds and guided meditations to help you fall asleep faster and better at night. Try it for free!
