Guided Meditation Techniques for Your Next Trip

Getaway Well by Bringing Serenity with You

Traveling is usually fun, but sometimes those good times come with a side of stress.

Whether you’re trying to improve your mental wellness during the holidays, or you regularly include guided morning meditation as part of your morning fitness routine, we’ve got some useful tips to help expand your meditation skills.

On this page, we’re going to discuss what guided meditation is, what the benefits of guided meditation are, as well as what are some types of guided meditation that you can try.

Then, we’ll discuss how to use guided meditation techniques to improve your vacation.

What is Guided Meditation?

Unlike other forms of meditation which are often self-led and quiet, guided meditation is what we call meditation that is led by a teacher or guru.

This can be either in-person like you’ll find at some health and wellness retreats, while others can be done virtually, or even pre-recorded and used at a later time.

What are the Benefits of Guided Meditation?

Several great benefits can be achieved through guided meditation. Some of these include:

• Managing anxiety
• Increases in mindfulness and self-awareness
• Strengthens patience
• Reduces negative feelings and stress
• Can help with sleep
• Assists with focus

If you’ve been trying to get into meditation, but can’t seem to find the motivation to meditate alone, the benefits of guided meditation are what you’ve been looking for.

What Are Some Types of Guided Meditation?

There are many types of guided meditation you could try, but the type that will work best for you depends on what you’re trying to achieve through your guided meditation.

Grab your meditation cushion, get comfy, and let’s talk about some of the most popular kinds of guided meditation:

Guided Sleep Meditation 

Guided sleep meditation sessions focus on lulling you into a state of total, full-body relaxation so that you can fall asleep.

In many cases, the teacher in these classes will have a very monotone or soothing voice, which aids in removing distractions from your mind, while you’re trying to drift off to sleep.

Unlike certain other forms of guided meditation, guided sleep meditation may incorporate soft background music into their session, again to assist with helping you relax and allow you to clear your mind.

Guided Meditation for Relaxation

Similar to guided sleep meditation, guided meditation for relaxation will often have a teacher that has a soothing, soft voice. This will help facilitate feelings of calm in you.

In some cases, guided meditation for relaxation overlaps with many of the same goals that you’ll find in guided sleep meditation.

The biggest difference being these two forms of meditation is that ultimately you shouldn’t fall asleep during guided meditation for relaxation. Unless you want to, that is.

Think of this form of meditation as a stress reducer. If you’ve had a really hard day at work, and you’re feeling frustrated with the world, guided meditation for relaxation could be exactly what you need.

Guided Meditation for Anxiety 

Calm and control are the central focuses of guided meditation for anxiety.

Using mindfulness to counteract the anxious emotions that you’re experiencing, guided meditation for anxiety is a great way to reduce the impacts of chronic stress, as well as reducing bouts of severe anxiety brought on by triggers.

If you’re often stressed out or anxious about traveling, guided meditation for anxiety might be perfect for you.

Guided Morning Meditation

Guided morning meditation is focused on increasing your energy and focus, as you move into the beginning stages of your day.

With warm, uplifting background music, or a lively, positive voice to lead your thoughts, guided morning meditation is the perfect way to start your day off on the right foot.

Your guided morning meditation will fill your head with positivity, motivation, and inspiration – as you let all the worries of yesterday fall away, so you can begin the day anew.

How to Use Guided Meditation Techniques

The best part about guided meditation techniques is that they’re led by someone who’s probably got more meditation experience than you have.

This means when you’re trying to figure out how to use guided meditation, the best thing you can do is simply follow the lead of the teacher.

Listening intently to their direction, as well as following their instructions as best you can, are the best ways to get the most out of your guided meditation session.

YouTube Guided Meditation

There are a plethora of YouTube guided meditation videos that can offer you anything from guided meditation for balancing your chakra, to guided meditation specifically designed to clear your mind.

Of course, YouTube guided meditations cover all the different types of guided meditation we talked about, as well.

You’ll be able to find many different teachers using this platform as the place where they can share their guided meditation videos. The key to finding the right teacher for you is to experiment a bit.

Check out a couple of videos you think you might like by the same creators. Odds are, if one of their YouTube guided meditations is working for you, their other videos might be just as effective.

Sure, you might find a few that don’t work well for you, whether it’s because of the teacher’s voice, their cadence, or the music they use. That’s fine, and you shouldn’t feel bad about these guided meditations not working for you right away.

There’s nothing wrong with a little trial and error, especially when you’re trying to find guided meditation videos that work well for you.

Once you do find YouTube-guided meditations that are perfect for your preferences, you can easily save and rewatch them anytime and anywhere you’d like. Those make for some very handy vacation essentials, which you’ll never have to worry about packing.

Guided Meditation Scripts

In addition to videos, you can also find guided meditation scripts, which are fantastic if you’d prefer audio files, or to use the guided meditation scripts in your way.

For instance, if you have a loved one whose voice you find soothing, you can record them reading the guided meditation scripts for you. Then, you can play the recording back anytime you want.

You could even record yourself reading guided meditation scripts for future playbacks.

There’s something distinctly meta about guiding yourself through a meditation session, but if it works, it works – don’t question a good thing, right?

Does Guided Meditation Really Work?

This is the eternal question when it comes to guided meditation.

Does guided meditation really work? Most meditation enthusiasts would tell you it does, at least somewhat.

As we’ve mentioned, this gives you the benefit of using the expertise that a meditation teacher brings to the table to improve your own experience. They’re sure to have at least a couple of tips or tricks that you aren’t using, which could make a huge difference for you.

Not just that, guided meditation allows you to take the onus of yourself to control the route of your meditation journey. This allows you to lose yourself in the experience and truly empty your mind as you follow their guidance.

So, does guided meditation work? We think so, but what matters is what you think. Try it for yourself and find out.

The worst thing that could happen is you find out you prefer to meditate without a leader. As far as we’re concerned, anytime you can improve your skills and identify what works or doesn’t work for you in your wellness journey, that’s a win.

Getaway Well Using Guided Meditation Techniques

Now that you know more about how to use guided meditation techniques to improve your mental wellness, we’d encourage you to get out there and start experimenting.

Try joining a local meditation group. Build guided morning meditation into your normal morning routine. Meditate to take the edge off your anxiety while you’re traveling.

Wherever you choose to use meditation, let it become a cornerstone of your mental wellness. It’s a useful technique for giving yourself some peace anytime you can find a few minutes to spare and a quiet spot.

Then, no matter where your travel journeys may take you, you know you can always Getaway Well.