Meditation Guide: Using Meditation Audio to Get Started & Find Inner Peace
Meditation can be as simple as sitting straight and quiet, eyes closed, hands relaxed on our lap and watching our breath for a few minutes. But, we in the busy west, make hard work of simple things and the busier we get the more they evade us. We want instructions, details, and proof. Often we are quicker to invest money in props or equipment than we are to invest a few minutes in quiet contemplative experimentation with simple sitting and breathing.
I have spent hours scanning shelves for guidance, and reading books on meditation from many different cultures over the last 20 years and it took a long while for the message to get through to me that meditation is incredibly simple and that I was making hard work of it. I didn't need to read how to do it, I just needed to sit down and do it for myself. That's when I discovered how meditation audio could help.
Meditation Audio the Easy Way to Get Started
For me, meditation audio support really helped. If I could do my japa meditation with a nice recording of my spiritual master chanting softly nearby I felt more able to relax and slow my mind to focus on my own chanting.
Or if I wanted to use a health focused meditation, I would load my iPod with a guided exercise in pranayama (breath control) or a favourite relaxation technique.
Having a selection of supportive recordings meant I could get on with experiencing meditation quickly and easily. Instead of reading books and wondering how do you do that? I could listen in real time and follow along. That had two main benefits:
1. My mind would settle and stop asking questions about how to meditate: Was I doing it right? Would it work? And what did "working" mean anyway?
2. I got to practice meditation and experience its benefits as soon as I started listening and following along.
If you have thought about trying meditation but you're not sure where to begin, I recommend finding a recording your feel comfortable with and just following along. It's so much easier (and quicker) than trying to learn from a book and you can find yourself relaxing into the experience in minutes as your guide has done this before so many times that they can ease you in via the benefits of their own congruent experience.
This article is part of the Meditation Guide Series - a collection of short articles exploring the practice of meditation.
Other articles in the series:
- Meditation Guide: The Basics of Meditation - Purpose & Practice
- Meditation Guide: Using Meditation Audio to Get Started & Find Inner Peace
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What's Next?
Other Articles You May Enjoy:
How Meditation Can Save You Time
Blissful & Balanced: Your Brain on Meditation
Escape Stress with Guided Meditation
Meditation: Getting Started and Enjoying the Benefits
Meditation Audio Related Resources:
The Beautiful Calm Collection - 8 audio guided meditations for beginners
Restful Awareness - meditation audio for deep rest and relaxation
Tratak Candle Gazing - a meditation audio walkthrough of the ancient art of candle gazing to rest the eyes, and relax the mind
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