An Introduction to Guided Meditation and Using Meditation Music

Meditation is a state of consciousness, also called thoughtless awareness. It is not an act of doing something, like concentrating, but rather a new state of awareness. It is not a loss of control, concentration on an object or idea, an exercise or even a mental effort.

“The act of meditation is being spacious.”
― Sogyal Rinpoche

"Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity."
― Swami Sivananda

Meditation is often seen by therapists and researchers as one of the best ways to reduce stress available to use, in part because of its effectiveness and partly because it has no harmful side effects, making its benefits available to anyone.

Guided meditation is basically any process you use internally to relax under the suggestion, direction or guidance of someone else. In some cases, this may take place in a therapist's office or with a live person, although many people choose guided meditation CDs or audios because they make this therapeutic healing available at home.

The purpose of meditation music is not just to help you relax but to give you something to keep you alert and focused and then gain deeper reflection. Meditation music isn't always music, as it may be nature sounds in some cases. You may choose to use only meditation music to gain a deeper state of relaxation or guided imagery (also known as guided meditation), which walks you through a soothing scene to help you engage all of your senses.

The best way to get started with guided meditation is to try a guided imagery audio, which guides you through the meditative process and helps you reach a state of relaxation. You may find you prefer only music to meditate, or even an audio of nature sounds. As you learn more about meditation, you'll find what works best for you. You may even decide to create your own guided meditation scripts with royalty-free background music in the future.

If you're new to using music for meditation, make sure you keep the volume down low enough that it's a comfortable background that doesn't intrude on your meditation. While you don't need headphones, they can help you become truly absorbed in the music while also blocking out any other noises around you. The right music is also important. If you're using it for relaxation, you want gentle ambient music such as New Age music, while music for a deep meditation should be very slow and soft.

You can learn more about music for meditation and guided meditation programs at The Healing Waterfall.