Customized Meditations
Creating Guided Meditations for Optimum Relaxation and Stress Relief
Too many guided meditations leave the novice meditation user uncomfortable, which can add more stress to the experience than provide relief. A simple solution is finding the right blocks to build an ideal meditation customized to each person’s needs and interests.
Setting the Scene
For some the idea of being on a warm, sandy beach is the most relaxing place in the world. Others would prefer a deep green forest for their respite while still others look to mountaintops to create their sanctuary. The meditation user should search her memories for a place that stands out from all the rest – whether this is a downtown park, a favorite waterfall or an imagined place such as the craters of the moon.
Goal-Oriented
To work optimally the user will want to have a goal in mind for her meditation - deep relaxation, healing, mental clarity and renewed energy may come to mind. Creating a deeper spiritual awareness or connection is a common goal. The meditating person should reflect on the largest need of the moment and plan to return to meditation for future goals.
Go Deeper
By now the meditation user will have chosen her preferred location (i.e. a lake or forest scene), and one primary goal for the meditation. One more step is to envision the mode of the user in the meditation: is she lying on the beach, walking through the forest or sitting on the mountain top? This action or inaction in the meditation will allow the user to add another dimension and create a deeper sense of relaxation and “being there.”
Putting the Meditation Together
A customized meditation for deep relaxation and stress relief might go something like this…
Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet touching the floor. Close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose, exhaling through the mouth. With the next breath picture your favorite spot at Lake Williams. Inhale…Exhale…Breathe in the familiar smells of the lake – the crisp mountain air, the scent of sagebrush and juniper, the earthy pinon nuts beneath the trees. Inhale…Exhale…Picture yourself walking over to your favorite rock by the lake and sitting down. Inhale…Exhale…Take off your shoes and enjoy the cool water lapping at your feet. Picture the sun warming your back and the rock you are sitting on. Inhale…Exhale…Allow your body to relax in this place, tensions and worries melt away as you Inhale…Exhale…Draw strength and comfort from this place of beauty through the sights, sounds and smells you encounter. Inhale…Exhale… When you are ready to return from your restful, sanctuary by the lake, simply rise to your feet and walk back. Breathe in deeply and slowly open your eyes. The rest of your day begins now.
Lake William, Taos Ski Valley
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