Guided Meditations: A World On Its Own

Our collaborator Marie Eve Lécine, a meditation teacher, will be exploring with us the world of guided meditations.

Guided meditations, as the name implies, are meditations that are performed through the voice of a guide. They enable us to experience an inner journey through the power of suggestion, visualizations and inner images. With guided meditations, you don’t have to go far to feel the best you can be.

When I say, “the very best of myself,” it is not just some vague concept. There are guided meditations of all kinds that address many needs, such as meditations to feel and reawaken emotions including as love, patience or letting go. There are also meditations to connect with nature or a loved one as well as meditations to reconnect with oneself, through one’s body or breathing. I usually say that there are as many guided meditations as there are needs. 

There are a few. Guided meditations rely on several functions of the psyche—notably, the one that causes our brain to make little or no difference between the inner images and the outer ones. For this reason, a walk in the forest as a guided meditation can lead us to experience wonderful sensations, including enjoying the smells and sounds of nature… almost as if we were there! It is a form of self-hypnosis.

Guided meditations also assume that the more a person will feel the fullness of “positive” emotions during a day, especially through guided meditations, the more they will orient their thinking to capture the same type of positive emotions in their daily lives. Therefore, by practicing guided meditations on a daily basis, a person can change the way they look and sees life. And this is one of the core principles of positive psychology.

Of course! During my next guided meditation sessions, for example, at the Rendez-vous de méditation at Le Monastère, I will lead a meditation which I call “Morning energy” (in French only). It will help participants to be acquainted with inner strength, the feeling of gratitude towards life, and trust through natural images and personal memories. One of the strengths of guided meditations is that participants are encouraged to draw from their memories to enjoy an even stronger experience.

Christophe André—an author whom I love—talks about guided meditations as the training wheels for more advanced meditation. They are a great way to start. Therefore, the answer is no, you do not have to be an expert in meditation. Everyone has to start somewhere! You just have to be open up to let yourself be guided into this new world.

Group practice is always a win-win situation, especially for beginners. For this reason, Le Monastère offers once a month meditation meetings. This is an interesting course because a complete guide and eight audio meditation recordings are given to the participants. Chocolates are even served! It’s definitely an experience not to be missed!

Besides, Le Monastèrealso offers a monthly workshop to introduce you to meditation. These workshops involve a part of guided meditation and a part of meditation in complete consciousness. It will be a great time, for one thing, because few places in Québec City offer this kind of practice.

Certainly! You can contact me by email mel@Letitbemeditation.com or on my website www.letitbemeditation.com.