Meditation Oasis

for a peaceful mind and open heart...

How to listen to our guided meditations

Unless otherwise stated, these guided meditations can be done either sitting or lying down.  In general, if you meditate sitting up, you'll tend to stay more alert for the meditation.  You might tend to doze or fall asleep while lying down.  You can try meditating both ways to see the difference for yourself.  In either case, find a position that is comfortable and close your eyes for the meditations.

Listen easily to the meditations, without straining in any way to follow the instructions.  Treat the instructions as gentle suggestions, and allow yourself to follow them in a way that is easy and natural.  The mind will wander from time to time -- that doesn't matter.  Just easily bring your attention back to the voice-guided instructions when you realize it has wandered.

Some of the meditations have a focus, such as the breath, emotions or body awareness.  It's not necessary to concentrate to keep your attention on these things.  Just be easy with the process and come back to the focus when the mind has wandered.

Many of the meditations don't have a specific focus like the breath.  The instructions are simply pointers to encourage the mind to let go of its usual patterns and settle down.  Listen to them in an easy, effortless manner, simply allowing the words and music to wash over you.  The phrases may not make sense to the "logical mind".  It is not necessary to understand, or even to hear, all the words.

At the end of most meditations, you  will be given the option to continue longer with the meditation on your own for a while longer.  When you are ready to end the meditation, take time to come out slowly.  Stretch, take some deep breaths and gradually return to your activity.  Opening your eyes downcast can also help the transition to activity to be more graceful and smooth.

Doing these meditations on your own.  Once you've listened to these meditations for some time, you will become familiar enough with the processes to do them on your own.  You can always come back to the guided meditation as a "refresher" once you're doing them on your own.

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