Guided Meditation for Healing

Meditation for Healing

In recent years thousands of people have participated in studies that confirm the beneficial effects of meditation for stress, depression, managing chronic pain, insomnia and other conditions. Clearly, there are forms of meditation practice that can help people cope with what ails them. But did you know that in some cases meditation can even help people cure what ails them?

A remarkable story of healing

An article published in the Daily Beast called Can Meditation Cure Disease tells of a 37-year-old Tibetan lama who arrived in New York with a gangrenous leg and was told by three different doctors that the leg needed to be amputated as soon as possible. Even though his physicians were certain that if the lama kept his leg the gangrene would kill him, before giving his consent, he spoke with the Dalai Lama, who told him not to amputate but instead to do certain healing meditation practices.

The story details how, after several months of intensive healing meditation practice, the illness reached a turning point – which was considered medically impossible – and within a year the leg had healed and the lama was walking again.

Over the ages there have been countless accounts of faith-based and prayer-based healing. What stands out here is that the illness and recovery were well-documented and that a team of respected doctors and researchers has been studying the case to try to determine how such a thing could be possible.

One of the researchers, Dr. William C. Bushnell, spoke of Tibetan – and yogic – practices involving prana, the subtle circulatory and energetic system of the body sometimes referred to as “the winds.” Bushnell is quoted in the article as saying, “It is not entirely clear from a Western science perspective what the winds are, but the scientific evidence suggests to me and others that the meditative process involving winds includes increased local blood flow, metabolic activity, and oxygenation.”

Meditation can transform the mind; mind can transform the body

The area of using meditation for self-healing has been of great interest to brain researchers around the globe. Numerous studies have revealed the relationship between meditation and a healthy brain. It would seem that the brains of long-term mediators are wired a bit differently than those of non-meditates.

Two regions of the brain are responsible for depression, anger, stress and anxiety: the right prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. These regions become overly active when your mind is agitated or you’re upset. The left prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, is associated with feelings of peace, happiness, self-awareness and positivity. This region is activated in the brains of consistent mediators. So is the production of the “happy” neurotransmitter serotonin – in fact, some anti-depressants artificially increase serotonin, and that’s what makes people feel less blue. Clinical studies have also linked production of dopamine with meditation. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that helps create feelings of pleasure and reward (just like chocolate, but without the calories.)

Meditation is believed to influence the sympathetic nervous system, keeping blood pressure, respiration and heart rate in check. When poorly controlled, these are the physical parameters that go hand in hand with feelings of stress and anxiety.

There’s no question that stress and anxiety are linked to a wide variety of maladies, including heart attacks, high blood pressure, digestive issues, sexual dysfunction and insomnia. And science concurs that many forms of meditation help reduce stress, starting with mindfulness, as practiced in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for example, and Transcendental Meditation, as well as relaxation meditation, guided meditations, walking meditation and more.

Taking care of your whole self

Tr inlay Ricochet, a scholar and meditation expert who teaches all over the world, says that meditation is the best way to take care of your self: your mind, body and essence. Meditation not only makes our lives more meaningful, it also offers us a natural healing mechanism. Many ailments begin with an imbalanced or stressed mind and develop in susceptible parts of the body. By working with the mind and learning to better manage the triggers that disturb it, we bolster the body’s natural defenses.

Guided meditation for healing is a great way to release the stress that accumulates in the mind and the tensions that build up in the body. One of the reasons that guided meditation is particularly effective is that you can just relax and enjoy it. The only thing you have to do is try to stay focused. Guided meditation for healing can be found in meditation groups, community settings, audio and video.

For those interested in beginning or developing a meditation practice, Mind works Meditation Courses are an outstanding resource. Sign up to discover richness of Mind works’ guided meditations, teachings, inspirational contemplation’s and more that is curated by expert mediators with decades of experience. Mind works has everything you need to get you started and keep you going on your path to healing and awareness.

People struggling with chronic pain or other medical conditions can use healing meditation to feel better in body and spirit. Some report dramatic results from healing meditation, while others simply appreciate the reduction in stress that comes from sitting quietly and focusing the mind. Healing meditation often incorporates visualization techniques.

What to expect

While meditation hasn’t been proven to cure specific ailments, patients report that it can be helpful when used alongside more conventional treatments. Meditation can help reduce anxiety, for one thing, which can potentially cause positive changes in your body. It’s important to be open to the process and have faith that it will help, but be willing to give it time.

Guided meditation techniques

Guided imagery, in which you create mental pictures in response to another person’s instructions, is commonly used for healing meditation. For example, if you have cancer, you might be asked to vividly picture your white blood cells fighting and winning against the cancer cells, and purging the bad cells from your body.

Personal healing images

You can use a healing meditation CD, or you can develop your own powerful healing images. For example, you might visualize your immune system as a train chugging steadily up a hill. Try to meditate on your chosen image often, at least once a day. You can also turn to it whenever you need a mental boost.

Preparing for healing meditation

When learning how to meditate, beginners often have trouble finding the best posture for meditation. Don’t be afraid to experiment — there’s no “right” way to meditate. Prepare to meditate by finding a quiet room without disruptions and take the following steps:

  • Turn off your phone and any other gadgets.
  • Dim the lights.
  • Sit in a straight-backed chair with your head forward, knees bent at a right angle and your hands on your thighs. You can also sit with your legs crossed or, if you’re flexible, pretzel your legs into a lotus position. If sitting isn’t comfortable, lie on the floor (it’s too easy to fall asleep on a bed).
  • You can chant a mantra to yourself, such as ” Om Mani Padme Hum,” a Tibetan healing mantra, or use a simple word like “calm,” “one” or “om.”
  • Close your eyes, or try staring at a focal point.

The best advice for beginners just learning about meditation is to start simple. Quieting your mind for long periods is more difficult than it looks, so just carve out 10 to 20 minutes a day at first. All you’ll need is a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed.

Benefits of meditation

Regular meditation can help relieve stress, improve your ability to focus and lead to a better understanding of your own thought patterns and processes. Some people use meditation to enhance creativity, reduce chronic pain, treat headaches and even improve athletic performance.

Focus

Although most people meditate with closed eyes, many beginners find it useful to have a point of focus, such as a candle. Concentrating on the flame can make it easier to clear your mind.

When learning how to meditate, beginners tend to get frustrated by the persistence of outside thoughts — all the anxieties, to-do lists and random memories that parade constantly through the brain. Instead of fighting them off, simply observe them as they enter your mind and let them pass. Repeating a mantra to yourself is another good way to maintain your focus.

Meditation techniques for beginners

Breathing meditation and relaxation meditation methods are especially good for people first learning to meditate. With breathing meditation, you simply breathe deeply from your abdomen, focusing all your attention on your breath, inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

Relaxation meditation involves consciously visualizing the release of tension from your body, beginning at the head and moving slowly down to the toes.

Meditate in action

“Walking meditation” is another useful way for beginners to learn how to meditate. The key is to concentrate fully on each deliberate step, paying attention only to the present moment. Focus on the rhythmic motion of your legs and the feel of the ground under your feet. Other active forms of meditation include tai chi and qigong (both traditional Chinese movement therapies) and yoga.

Combine meditation with lifestyle choices

A healthy diet, regular exercise and good sleep all enhance the positive effects of meditating. Spending time in nature, getting out in the sunshine, spending time with loved ones and trying to maintain a good attitude should also improve your results.

Guided Meditation Script

“Peace, Tranquility and Healing”


This brief guided meditation script will guide you through a very healing visualization process. You can use this meditation script to experience a deep feeling of peace, tranquility and transcendence – Eternity Yoga

For more free meditation scripts, or to contribute a meditation script of your own, please follow this link to free guided meditation scripts.

Sitting comfortably or lying down with eyes closed, let’s begin by becoming aware of the breath

Feel the breath as it enters with a cool feeling and then warming as it gently travels down into the lungs…..

Fill the lungs with a deep inhale, bringing in energy, vitality and prana, the life force…..

As you exhale, feel the body releasing toxins, stress and any negativity that has accumulated…..

Stay with this breath, focusing on the feeling of deep peace for ten deep inhalations and exhalations….

Feel the energy that is in the body….

Become aware of the warmth and tingling of every cell…..

Feel the energy that is in the extended environment, in every part of nature and in every living thing…..

Bring all those energies together and feel them as one…..

Visualize all of that energy shining brightly, as the sun…..

Bring the shining glow of bright energy over the crown of the head…..

Feel it starting to travel down into your body from the top of your head, slowly going down into your face and neck, traveling down into the shoulders, all the way down into the arms, down to the fingers…..

Relaxing into Healing” guided meditation podcast

I just added an episode to our Meditation Oasis podcast called “Relaxing into Healing”. It’s a very simple, direct approach to healing, and probably quite different from most guided meditations for healing.

The meditation is based on the idea that healing is in the nature of life. The natural intelligence of the body and psyche is always moving in the direction of healing. We can cooperate with this natural process of healing by being open to it, relaxing so that the maximum energy is available for healing, and allowing whatever needs to be healed to come fully into our awareness.

Being open to healing — In the beginning of the meditation, we set the intention to open to healing. This way we become more receptive to the process of healing.

Relaxing to free up energy for healing — We relax by letting go of resistance to whatever we are experiencing in our body, mind and emotions. Resistance takes energy, and we want to let that energy be used for healing.

Allowing what needs healing into our awareness — Finally, the guided meditation encourages you to allow everything to come into your awareness that needs healing. The idea isn’t to start thinking about it and analyzing it, but to simply experience it. Our attention is a beam of intelligent energy. Simply having something in our awareness brings energy to it. It may be a situation, an emotion or something in the body that needs healing. The meditation encourages you to simply allow yourself to experience whatever needs to be healed without judgment. In this way you hold a compassionate space for yourself to heal.

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