Today, I did guided meditation. I must say that it is easiest form of meditation for a beginner. However, it also helps me get so relaxed that I sleep by the 20th minute or so. The same happened to me today. Guided meditation is useful for someone who is new to meditation and want to try out the potential benefits of meditation. There are multiple audios/videos available on youtube and the entry criteria is pretty simple. All you need is a stable place to sit and a good pair of ear phones. I am including a sample youtube video here.
As a child, I used to be fascinated by Hypnosis and I always wondered how someone can influence you to travel to deeper states of consciousness. However, I realized that Hypnosis is a hit or miss depending on the type of person you are.
Hypnosis and guided meditation are pretty similar concepts in my mind. I was pleasantly surprised to read about so much research validating the benefit of these methods. I was reading the abstract of the following research paper A Review of the Impact of Hypnosis, Relaxation, Guided Imagery and Individual Differences on Aspects of Immunity and Health.
This paper talks about how significant positive effects on immune system of the subjects in the study. People who took part in the study ended up more immune to viral infections, less recurrence of herpes, etc. I am so happy that an accessible, easy to use, 30 minute meditation a day can have so many benefits to our well being. While I was looking for inner meaning of life, I won’t complain if I also get healthier in the process 🙂
Some guided meditation links on Amazon
1) Guided Meditation (Healing Voice for Relaxation Against Anxiety)
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