Guided Meditation – Reduce Your Stress and Create Calm in Your Life

Stress!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your stress levels?

Today, most would claim a level of 10+.

Studies show that the stress levels of most people today are greater than previous generations.

There are many reasons for this, but one statistic that has shown to be true is that the higher your stress, the greater your chance of developing health problems.

When you’re in a constant state of stress you may find yourself experiencing some unwanted side effects, such as

Headaches
Upset Stomach
High Blood Pressure
Chest Pain
Fatigue
Sleep Problems
Emotional Problems
Eating Disorders

Adding five minutes of meditation to your daily self-care routine has proven to reduce stress and anxiety.

Guided Meditations

Use guided meditation to help you build this self-care habit. When you first begin, you may find yourself struggling to clear your mind and connect with your body and senses. In fact, you may feel that the entire process is too stressful.

Guided meditations will help you begin this self-care practice.

Let’s look at three guided meditations that you may find helpful in your self-care.

True Happiness

Where does true happiness come from?

What makes you truly happy?

Many connect their happiness to the foods they love, people in their lives, or social activities.

Then we discover that this type of happiness is fleeting and find ourselves stressed and anxious as we try to find a fix for our unhappiness.

True Happiness Guided Meditation

Get into a comfortable position. Sit on a chair or cushion. Breathe deeply through your nostrils. Clear your mind of distracting thoughts. You may find that diffusing a calming essential oil will help as you empty your mind.

Visualize. Think about the best experience you’ve ever had. Visualize yourself in the moment of the experience. Allow yourself to feel the experience, engage your senses.

Reflect on true happiness. Embrace the things that truly make you happy. What are you grateful for in your life? Your family, your pets, your health, your spiritual life.

Moderation

What drives you to excess?

Is it food, exercise, work, play, your home, or work life?

Excess drives our stress levels up, and we find ourselves living in overwhelm.

Moderation allows you to enjoy the pleasures of life without giving into excess.

As you practice meditation, make sure you look within and determine where excess controls your life.

Practicing Moderation Guided Meditation

Pay attention to your feelings. It’s easy to overeat, spend too much money, or drink more than usual when we repress difficult and upsetting emotions. What is driving your excessive behavior? Tap into those feelings, dig deep and allow yourself to feel the driving force of your excessive behavior. Acknowledge your feelings.

Identify triggers for stress. Examine the major causes of stress in your life. What is your greatest source of tension?

Visualize taking new approaches. Brainstorm about constructive new responses. You may find yourself taking care of others and not yourself, how can you add 10 minutes of self-care to your day? You may have a family member that is driving you crazy, how can you approach the situation differently? You’re trying to do it all, how can you ask for help?

Concentration

WOW! Distractions are everywhere.

What distractions are in your life?

Do you find yourself unable to concentrate during the day?

Concentration is affected by stress, anxiety, depression, focusing on the past, or worrying about the future.

Meditation allows you to connect to your inner self to relieve the feelings that are causing your lack of concentration.

Guided Meditation for Mental Concentration

Observe your thoughts. It’s likely that your mind is absorbed by something at this very moment. Your thoughts may be focusing on a worry, a past event, an argument, your health, or any number of situations that is causing you stress.

Probe for root causes. Evaluate why the event means so much to you. Try to get in touch with what is the root problem. Why are you consumed with these thoughts?

Enjoy the sensations. At the same time, it’s okay to revel in pleasant feelings. Focus on your capacity for joy regardless of the specific circumstances.
Extend your enthusiasm. Hold onto that feeling when you get up from your session. It may lengthen your attention span for other worthwhile pursuits.

Today you may find yourself living in a state of overwhelm, stressed, and anxious about the day ahead. Adding meditation to your self-care routine allows you to gain a new perspective on stressful situations, helps you manage your stress, increases your self-awareness, allows you to focus on the present, increases your creativity and reduces your negative emotions.

Schedule at least five to ten minutes a day to this self-care practice. As you become more comfortable with meditation, try increasing your time in increments of five minutes, with a goal of at least 30 minutes each day.