The Best Meditation Guides for a Peaceful Mind
Our everyday life is busy with deadlines, stress, and a fast pace. This can be really tough on our bodies and souls. We can use guided meditation to disconnect and reconnect with ourselves, finding the best version of ourselves. Guided meditation is a powerful and easy-to-use tool for this. We’ve selected 20 of the best-guided meditations to consider as part of your practice.
Let’s take a step back and ask ourselves what guided meditation is and its benefits.
Quick Picks: The Best Meditation Guides for a Peaceful Mind
What Does It Mean to Meditate?
Reducing meditation to a simple definition would not do it justice.
Meditating is more than just sitting down and closing your eyes. In fact, when you meditate, you have a deep and direct connection with yourself. This can help you reach a state of peace.
There are two ways to meditate. You can focus on something or try to clear your mind and reach a state of thoughtless awareness.
There are different types of meditation. One of them is called guided meditation.
What Is Guided Meditation?
Guided meditation is a technique where someone leads you through relaxation. They will help you focus on your breath and clear your mind. This can help achieve a more relaxed state.
Guided meditation can help us get to know ourselves better and feel more calm and relaxed. It can also help us release the stress we have been carrying around.
How Does Guided Meditation Work?
There are different types of guided meditations. They depend on what you want to achieve through this meditation practice.
Do you want to relax? Get better sleep? Become more resilient to change?
Your guide will ask you to either sit down or lie down and close your eyes. You will begin your journey towards an authentic awareness of yourself from this moment.
The first part of meditation is to relax so you can face your inner journey.
When you are asked to imagine something calming, it is supposed to help you feel better. It can be like a stream of the sun warming your skin. When you are asked to focus on one specific thing, it is supposed to help you focus. This can be your body, your breath, or a sound.
Gradually, all parts of your body will relax. This deep calm will make it easier for your subconscious to accept positive changes. The benefits of meditation will be stronger.
You will then have a guided journey that will help improve one or more aspects of your life. The journey may help heal the wounds of your spirit or simply provide deep relaxation.
This is why guided meditation is useful for reaching a state of deep inner calm and eliminating stress. It can also help improve self-awareness and allow you to live your life to the fullest.
After the meditation, your guide will slowly bring you back to reality. You will feel more relaxed, stronger, and more aware of yourself.
Studies show that the brain cannot tell the difference between an experience that is real and imagined. This is why experiences during meditation have the same benefits as those experienced in reality.
During a guided meditation, you can use your mind to make positive changes in your body and life.
Benefits of Guided Meditation
There are many potential benefits to guided meditation. These can include:
- You can achieve a deep state of relaxation
- Your blood pressure can drop
- The levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your blood can lower
- Your stress, anxiety, and depression levels can decrease
- You can diminish mood swings
- If you suffer from it, you can be able to better manage panic attacks
- You can have a greater awareness of yourself
- You can improve your memory and your ability to concentrate
- You can increase the concentration of gray matter inside your brain
- You can feel regenerated, more active, and less tired
- You can feel stronger in painful situations
- You can improve sleep disorders, such as insomnia
- You can be more able to work in stressful situations without losing focus
- You can perfect your problem-solving skills
- You can cope better with physical pain
- Your breathing can be smoother
- You can feel more fulfilled, serene and relaxed
How to Practice Guided Meditation:
Let’s dig into the essence of guided meditation now that you know what and how it works. Here are some things to remember as you begin your guided meditation workout:
- Choose a quiet place
The first step in starting your meditation is to find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed by noise or people. This will help you focus and meditate better.
You don’t need a lot of space to practice meditation. Look for a quiet, bright, and well-ventilated corner in your house. Turn off all electronic devices such as TV, radio, and cell phone.
- Find a comfortable position.
There are different ways to meditate. You can sit or lie down, but be careful that you don’t fall asleep if you lie down. This is not what we want.
You can also help maintain the position with a meditation cushion. This will help you stay in the position for a longer period.
If you cannot sit or stand on the ground, you can also sit on a chair. Although contact with the ground can be helpful, sitting in a chair is better than not sitting at all.
- Stabilize your body
It is important to maintain the correct position for meditation to benefit from it.
Keeping your back straight, try to keep your center of gravity stable. Stretch your neck and shoulder muscles. Keep your neck straight.
There are different hand positions, called mudras, that you can use to get different benefits. You can also initially rest your hands on your knees.
- Close your eyes
When you find the right job, it is time to be patient. You need to find balance in this new job and when you feel ready, start to focus on your breathing.
- Focus on your breathing
To meditate effectively, it is important to focus on your breath.
Try to breathe naturally. You will see that over time, your breathing will become deeper and more rhythmic as you continue practicing.
Breathing is something that we do all the time, without thinking about it.
Focus on the rhythm of your breathing. Align your spirit with your heartbeat. And relax.
Now it is time for you to begin your journey within.
Follow your meditation guide, not only in words but also in sounds, rhythm, and breath, and let yourself be transported in your path of deep relaxation.
Top 20 Best Guided Meditations
1. Headspace Meditation for Sleep
If you are having trouble sleeping, meditation for sleep can be a helpful way to relax and get ready for a good night’s sleep. This Guided Meditation for Sleep from Headspace is beginner-friendly and easy to follow. Just lie down, close your eyes, and give yourself a chance to unwind and relax.
2. Guided Meditation for Sleep Floating Amongst the Stars
This long guided meditation can help you relax and disconnect from reality. The technique used is visualization, and the setting is a beautiful, relaxing experience among the stars. This will help your mind explore outer space and relax to finally get some rest.
3. 20 Minute Guided Meditation for Reducing Anxiety and Stress–Clear the Clutter to Calm Down by The Mindful Movement by PowerThoughts Meditation Club
Suppose you feel anxious and stressed because of your life, work, or personal issues. In that case, this guided meditation for anxiety can help reduce those feelings. The creators suggest following this meditation daily. If you struggle with anxiety and stress, try creating a routine with this guided meditation to see results in just a few days.
4. Let Go of Anxiety, Fear & Worries: Guided Meditations for Harmony, Healing & Inner Peace by PowerThoughts Meditation Club
Suppose you are feeling many emotions like stress, fear, and anxiety, and you feel like you can’t stop worrying. In that case, this guided meditation for anxiety will help reduce those feelings. You will learn how to find more peace and heal yourself emotionally. Just follow the soothing voice and learn about yourself more deeply.
5. Guided Meditation – Blissful Deep Relaxation – The Honest Guy
This guided meditation will help you find deep relaxation. You will also find balance and calmness while the narrator’s soothing voice guides you through the process. The background sound of the ocean will help you relax, and a gentle countdown will lead to a sense of surrender.
6. Candle Visualisation (Guided meditation) by New Horizon Holistic Center
This candle visualization is a simple and easy way to relax and focus on something soothing, like a candle flame. Just follow the instructions to feel a sense of surrender while leaving the daily life behind. Spend these moments in a higher sense of connection with yourself at a spiritual level.
7. Walking Joy Meditation with Gabby Bernstein
This guided walking meditation by Gabby Bernstein can help you find joy and happiness in your everyday life. Gabby Bernstein, the bestselling author of The Universe, has your back and more personal growth titles and will guide you on a journey of introspection. While helping you take steps into the world from a new perspective of awareness and calmness.
8. Walking meditation by Satorio
Often, we go through our lives without really paying attention to the world around us. We take what we have and what we see every day for granted. With this guided walking meditation, you will use a mix of movement and awareness to start seeing your reality from a more kind and calm perspective.
9. GUIDED MEDITATION for Healing – Experience the Pure Loving Energy of the Universe by The Honesty Guy
Healing our souls is not easy, but with a guided meditation like this one, you can find a way to reconnect with the universe and its positive energy. Reconnecting with the universe can be a life-changing experience that will help you absorb high vibrations and feel amazing in your body and soul.
10. Open Your Chakras (Energy Healing Meditation) by Davidji
Chakras are our energetic centers. If they are blocked, we might have emotional blockages or physical discomfort. Davidji, the bestselling author of Sacred Powers, and other amazing content related to spirituality and personal growth can help us open our chakras up. This will make us feel better in our bodies and spirit.
11. Guided Meditation for Children | Your Secret Treehouse | Relaxation for Kids by New Horizon – Meditation & Sleep Stories
Kids get stressed too! They have a lot of things to worry about, just like adults. This guided meditation will help them forget their problems and stress for a few minutes. They will enter a magical fantasy world where they can relax and feel better.
12. Kids Mindfulness Meditation in 10 Minutes: Guided Meditation for Children – EP by Happy Super Kids
This guided meditation for kids helps kids deal with anxiety and stress. Kids learn how to use their breath easily and practically. The meditation is only 10 minutes long, so it can be used when needed.
17. Dr. Wayne Dyer – 5 Minutes Before You Fall Asleep – Positive Affirmations – Wayne Dyer Meditation
This 5-minute meditation can help you feel calm and positive within 5 minutes. You will raise your vibrations with positive affirmations and become aware of your body and soul. This will help you get ready to relax and let go of what doesn’t serve you.
Conclusion
Guided meditation can help change your life. It is simple to start, but it takes a lot of practice to do it well. People often get frustrated and give up. Be gentle with yourself and just notice what comes up. With time, you will find your own rhythm and flow.
Frequently Asked Questions About Best Meditation Guides
There are many ways to meditate. You can do it sitting down or standing up, but you must find yoga poses that are comfortable for you and that you can hold for a long time. Some types of meditation are better done lying down.
Chakra meditation helps us cleanse and balance our chakra system. This is done by focusing on each chakra in order, from the root chakra to the crown chakra. We can control and restore the energy that flows through them by doing this. Each chakra has strong associations.
To do this pose, sit on your cushion with your legs crossed. Lean back until the middle of your backrests on the cushion, and let your headrest on the ground.
Eventually, if you don’t want to sit in a chair while meditating, you might want to buy a meditation pillow. This will help you stay sitting up straight, and it will also help you create a space in your home where you can practice meditation every day.
A zafu is a type of round meditation cushion that has gathered sides. Your knees will be lower than your hips when you sit on this cushion because of its form. This proper posture or proper alignment is better for maintaining the natural curves in your spine.
The goal of meditation is to rise above the person’s current state of being. Practitioners focus on a mantra or a repeated word or series of words during meditation sessions.
A zafu is a round cushion. It is used for different purposes, but it is mostly known for its use in Zen meditation. It is one of the best meditation cushions.
Sitting in poorly designed seats for a long time can put too much pressure on your hips and tailbone. This can cause pain and make you tired. It can also lead to spine and joint problems that make your life harder. Best meditation cushions will spread that pressure and protect your body from the usual wear and tear.