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Just as there are many teachers, there are a wide variety of
guided meditations. Ideally, their goal is to allow you to be
both alert and relaxed, while your guide draws your attention to
that which is larger, grander, and wiser than yourself. Through
regular use of guided meditation, you improve your sense of
oneness with that which transcends you, and yet is at the heart
of you.
Here is a guided meditation I received from fellow-writer and
chaplain, Christie McKaskle. You can lengthen or shorten the
pauses to fit your needs. In fact, she suggests recording both a
short and a long version, so you can use this guided meditation
no matter what your schedule is like. You can record your own
voice reading it or ask a beloved person to read it for you.
"Take a breath and get comfortable (pause).
Breathe again. If any of your clothes are binding, loosen them
(pause).
If you are chilly, get a sweater or shawl. If you're warm,
remove a layer.
Breathe.
Breathe and allow your eyes to close (pause).
Notice the sounds around you - voices, dogs barking, any traffic
sounds (pause).
Notice the sounds within you - your stomach growling, your heart
beating, your blood rushing throughout your body (pause).
Listen to all of these sounds and allow them to become a picture
in your mind. See them as waves, like those at the surface of a
choppy lake or ocean. But instead of an ocean of water, this is
an ocean of being, where you breathe more freely and deeply, the
further down you go. This is an ocean in which you live and move
and have your being.
Take a deep breath, hold it for a second, and as you exhale now,
go deeper into Being, Down past the surface noise, Down past
your history, with all its victories and disappointments, Down
to the ground of your being. Take a moment to settle here and
get your bearings (pause).
Once you feel centered, look around and see that everything you
need is here - perfect peace, vibrant health, constant love,
endless supply for all your needs. They're all here as pure
potential. You give them form in your imagination (pause).
Look at all of these forms of good, and choose one to take with
you now. Take whatever you need - a more harmonious expression
of peace, more compassionate and generous love, livelier health,
or a constant, generous overflow of supply for every need.
Choose the good you want now, and have no fear: you can return
here at any time to get anything else you need. What are you
willing to take with you right now? Whatever you are willing to
receive is yours by right of consciousness (pause).
Breathe in, and as you do, take that quality of life from pure
being into your physical form. It is a part of you now and will
come back with you into your manifest life. As you take one last
look around, you see that you have always had a connection to
this place. A golden cord grows from the center of you and
anchors you here. You never saw it before, but now you know it's
what drew you here, and will bring you here again.
So breathe again, and as you exhale, head back to the surface of
your life on the daily physical plane. Take a moment to bring
your full awareness to your body and your surroundings, and open
your eyes when you're ready."
You are free to adapt this guided meditation as you wish. Soon,
you'll become so familiar with the experience, you'll feel ready
to choose a new one from the thousands of CDs and tapes
available. Or, write and record a new one of your own!
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