Benefits of Guided Meditation
Guided meditation has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, and with good reason. Research is repeatedly showing the benefits of meditation, of mindfulness and relaxation. At the most basic level, a key benefit to guided meditation is learning to relax oneself in both mind and body. Given the research on the detrimental effects of long-term exposure to stress hormones, developing ways to manage stress is even more compelling.
Guided meditation has been shown to help with anxiety, depression, sleep problems and high blood pressure, among many other problems. One easy example is for people who have significant anxiety, learning to slow the mind and the body and learning to live in the moment can be extremely helpful. Guided meditation can be an important adjunctive part of the psychotherapy. Not only does it help one learn to get through the moment, but then with therapy learning other skills and coming to address the underlying causes of the anxiety.
Some Useful Resources for Guided Meditation
Below are links to three valuable resources. They are all free (although one does request an optional donation). All the resources have multiple audio or video choices. Try several, not everyone has the same taste. These resources can be used at home, on a break at work or any other place and time in which you can find a short (or longer) period in which you can be alone, and unlikely to be interrupted. At the same time, do not worry about finding absolute quiet. That’s not necessary. What is important is your growing ability to sit with yourself and to enjoy and benefit from the practice (even if intermittent) of relaxation. (One request: it’s probably not a good idea to listen to any of these audios while driving).
We hope you find these resources helpful.
