Having a guided meditation script can help you know what to do, how to do it, and better stick to the practice.
There are several phases to keep in mind as you develop your daily meditation practice. First of all, meditation is not an intellectual process, but rather an experiential process of discovering first-hand what your True Self is, and this discovery is not revealed by studying and thinking about the subject or analyzing ideas about it. This discovery comes from allowing the truths to arise from the experience of direct awareness and realization.
With each meditative experience you relax and explore a greater awareness of who you are and when you return to your normal consciousness your awareness is changed and with this awareness your life changes.
Your Guided Meditation Script
You will need to set aside at least a minimum of 20 minutes at a time to begin this process. If you can do 30 minutes or more at a time so much the better.
1. Select a time and place where you will not be disturbed or distracted. Silence any devices that might interrupt you. You should also meditate when you feel refreshed, for if you meditate when you are tired, you are more likely to find yourself drifting.
2. Your objective is to be comfortable. Some people prefer to meditate sitting in a comfortable chair, and some prefer to sit up right on a meditative cushion. Either can work for you. It is generally more advisable to be sitting rather than lying down, as many people find they are more likely to drift off to sleep if they are reclining.
3. You should loosen any tight clothing and lower the lights a little if they are bright.
4. The first part of any guided meditation script must include a relaxation script. There are many ways to reach a relaxed state so you may want to vary your approach from one meditation to another by using several different relaxation scripts. Generally, there are two basic approaches to this portion of the meditation. One utilizes attention on the body and breathing, and the other utilizes using the imagination to visualize a relaxing setting. Either approach will work, or you may want to combine the two in your own relaxation scripts.
a. For instance, you can begin your meditation with a deep breath in through your nose and exhale out through your mouth. You then breathe normally and naturally while you follow your breath. You can follow your breath by being aware of the air entering and leaving through your nostrils, or you can observe the rise and fall of your abdomen. Either of these techniques will help you to quiet your mind, and relax your body.
If you have been engaged in physical or mental activity prior to doing your meditative practice it may take you a little time to settle down, so just slow down your breathing into a nice natural and quiet rhythm. Notice how this brings you into the state of stillness from which clarity will emerge. I suggest you select either watching your breath at the nostrils or the movement of your abdomen now and do it for a few minutes.
b. A useful visualization to help you relax would be to imagine yourself in a natural comfortable setting. For instance, visualize yourself sitting under a tree on some comfortable pillows near a running stream. Imagine you are watching a few puffy white clouds drifting across the sky. Enjoy the peacefulness of your surroundings. You can make this a multi-sensory experience by using your imagination to feel a light breeze, breathe in the fresh air, hear the birds singing, etc. As you enjoy these images feel yourself relaxing your thinking and be fully present with your meditative process.
5. The next phase in this guided meditation script is to be grounded. Most people are a little scattered and being grounded is a good way to help you be focused.
You will find that when you are well grounded that your thinking and memory improve, you feel more empowered, you have more ownership of your energy, you are not as affected by others, and you will feel more stable and balanced. The grounding also helps keep you in present time.
Say to yourself, “I ask all my energy to integrate in present time, right here and right now.”
One way of grounding yourself is to direct your intention to form a connection from the base of your spine to the center of the earth. The visual image that I find that works most easily for this is to imagine you are sitting on a tree stump and the trunk of the tree and it’s roots go deeply into the center of the earth all the way to the core where the roots strongly ground you to the earth. I suggest you make this column 2’ in diameter so you have a good strong grounding connection. This is a most effective method of grounding.
6. Center Your Awareness in Your Heart. Next, after settling in, relaxing, and grounding yourself, you will want to center your attention in a place where you can most easily establish your connection with your True Self.
Everyone’s consciousness has a point of focus. If you pay attention to yourself right now and scan yourself you can become aware of where your awareness is focused. It is usually focused on an area that is holding your attention. So if you have a pain in your shoulder, you are likely to find your awareness focused somewhere near your shoulder. Often you will find it somewhere in or around your head, or even in front of your head. Sometimes it may be in your solar plexus area if you are experiencing an emotion.
A more useful area to place your attention during meditation is in your chest or heart area. The chest area has a particular value in the meditative practice because that is where your spiritual nature is most easily accessed. So put your attention on the center of your chest and reverently say to yourself, “I ask my soul and spirit to emerge in my heart.”
Sit quietly with that and allow yourself to connect with the words and the spiritual presence there. At first you may just feel a quietness come over you, but in time there will be more of a sense of spiritual presence that emerges.
You will also find it helpful to repeat other statements in a mantra like process.
Say to yourself:
- I feel my Soul.
- I feel my Soul deeply in my heart.
- I feel divine love in my heart.
As you repeat these statements sometimes for several minutes you will find yourself connecting more and more deeply each time you repeat the words. You will sink more and more deeply into your experience of discovering your true nature.
Do not underestimate the importance or profound nature of this part of the practice. This is the establishment of your connection and awareness of whom you truly are. It has been right there, present with you all the time, but by not paying attention to it you have missed it. Now, as by giving it some attention every day, you will discover some amazing truths about your real nature and deep divine truth.
Sometimes you may want to make this the totality of your meditations, but you can also progress to an inquiry process that can lead to greater realizations.
7. Questions that can help open you to deeper insights into reality.
Asking questions is perhaps one of the more effective ways of deriving value from meditation and no guided meditation script would be complete without it. As you refine your questions you will deepen your realizations. There are two primary ways for doing this.
a. You can ask your questions as if you sitting across from an all-wise being who has all the answers. To do this, imagine you are talking with this trusted and wise friend calmly asking a question and then being quiet and waiting for the answer.
You can periodically ask, “Is there is anything else I need to know,” or “tell me more.” Allow the insights to bubble to the surface. They may come as flashes or glimpses. Sometimes they come as single words, and at other times deeper insights or sensations unfold.
b. A second type of asking questions is called self-inquiry. Deep aspects of realization can come from asking yourself questions such as the following:
- “Who am I?
- “What am I?”
- “Who is it who is asking the questions?
Allow your inner responses to arise from the stillness deep within you.
Listen, observe and be open with the intent of receiving a response. This inner listening is what opens your receptivity to spiritual insights.
In the early stages of this practice you may not be seeing, feeling or hearing much of anything and assume you are either doing it wrong, or there is something wrong with you that prevents you from success. Neither of these conclusions are true. Going into judgment about yourself, becoming impatient with yourself, or having other self-doubts will only interfere with your meditation process. Continue with your daily practice, for no matter how long it takes to open your receptivity, you will succeed if you persist.
8. The final step in your guided meditation script is integrating your experience. In this phase you relax your mind, let go of the questions, and become aware of bringing your new consciousness into your daily life.
Be sure to express gratitude for your session regardless of your perception of its nature or quality. Gratitude opens you a little more to more enriching meditative experiences each time you express and feel it.
Reconnect your awareness to your five senses and begin to notice sounds, feelings, sensations, and smells. Take several deep breaths and relish the way you feel as you stretch your body and return to your full normal state.
Don’t Forget These Important Points
As you return to your normal activities you may think you are losing what you experienced in the meditation, but know that your awareness has stretched from where it was. Notice how the new insights live in the back of your mind throughout the day and give you a fresh experience of whatever is before you.
The more you meditate and connect with the inner you, the more you realize that your outer perceptions have been limiting and confining you, and the inner truths begin to emerge from within you.
Meditation is not like learning brain surgery; it is self-discovery. It is the discovery of the deepest truths of who and what you are, and as that unfolds, a simplicity and understanding of it all reveals itself naturally.
