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Guided meditations Q&A

Question

If I am attending a guided meditation and I wish to just be deep in my meditation state and I get annoyed by the interruptions of the guide, or the pace of the guidance doesn’t suit my state, how do I address this?

Answer from Mithila

Guided meditations are exactly that — guided. Therefore, in a group guided meditation it will not always be at the pace that you wish or need in order to stay in, or explore, a certain state of being, or even to keep up with the guidance.

If you still wish to join guided meditations there are many benefits, among them:

• You can see the guided meditation as an opportunity to learn new techniques, which you can then repeat in your own silent self-practice, guiding yourself at the pace that suits you.

• Guided meditations have the benefit of being space held by the meditation guide, sometimes even through energy transmissions and not only verbal guidance. These assist you in entering states of meditation and following the guidance and energy of the technique, which can be very valuable. It boosts your understanding of the practice and then assists you in your own silent self-practice.

• Sometimes we can drift away from awareness of the present moment in silent self-practice in a way that is not possible in a guided meditation. The guidance keeps you flowing with the energy of the meditation and the duration of practice, which is also beneficial to advance your self-practice.

Due to the above benefits it can be worthwhile attending guided meditations to complement your self-practice.

However, what do you do when you feel annoyed by the interruptions that happen to your own experience of the practice when being guided?

My foremost tip is

Listen with your whole being rather than your ears.

When you hear the guidance with your ears only, it is easy for the energy to enter the mind space and become something you think rather than something you feel or sense into.

If you can listen with the whole of you, then you will be less disturbed in your own meditative state. You will be more able to blend with the energy of the meditation — your own experience within yourself and the one that is being guided into the space by the person who is speaking.

Take in what is being said without interrupting your own depth of experience and without having to “leave” the state of meditation you have created when a new guidance or description comes into the picture.

This way you can choose what to move on to, or what to stay in, at a pace that suits your needs on the day that you are attending a guided session.

I hope this helps.