When we experience something difficult or traumatic in our lives, we often are subject to remnants of the event that stay lodged in our mind and body. These experiences create conditioned responses that can affect the way we make decisions and can impact aspects of our lives we are unaware of.
When we experience stress or other events that seem to be out of our control, we can experience a level of fear over what is to come. Instead of worrying about the future or stressing about the past, it can be helpful to take a look at ourselves from the inside out and examine our beliefs about ourselves.
When we experience hardship, we can often take it personally and begin to think there is something inherently wrong with us, or that we were the cause of something negative. Even if this is true, we cannot take on all the responsibility for negative things that happen in life. The essence of life is that change is constant and that birth and death are all processes of life.
Sometimes we engage with life in a way that is positive and meaningful and leads to the outcomes we desire. Other times, life throws unexpected events at us and we need to determine whether we are going to take them personally, sink into victimhood, become defeated and give up or blame others.
Or we can choose to rise above the situation, see where we can glean wisdom from the experience, and be confident in ourselves and what we have to offer. We can remind ourselves that we are special and have a unique perspective and experience that can show us how to be our best.
One practice for experiencing our own forgiveness and understanding ourselves more profoundly is by engaging in the process of meditation. Meditation is a practice of contemplation that allows us to calm the mind and pay attention to our thoughts and emotions.
When we can clearly see the mental experiences that we are having in our minds, we can begin to understand ourselves more fully. When we take time to understand ourselves, we can offer ourselves greater compassion and honesty. This can allow us to forgive ourselves for any mistakes we have made and begin to start with a fresh perspective that allows us to be more gentle with ourselves.
How to Practice Guided Meditation
Guided meditation is the practice of listening to a recorded audio or visual while relaxing and envisioning and imagining. Guided meditations can also be done live by a professional teacher or therapist. During the guided meditation session, the teacher will lead a series of ideas, thoughts, or mantras that the participant can envision and imagine. Often the topics of stress relief, self-confidence, and healing are commonly touched upon in guided meditation.
Specific meditations can be found for healing from within while reducing stress and alleviating traumatic responses, acknowledging, and releasing grief, guilt, and other negative reactions and ideas we hold onto.
When we listen to a guided meditation, we reprogram the subconscious mind to align with the conscious mind so we can make changes to our outlook and to our experience. The best part about guided meditation is that we can relax and let our trusted guide lead us to a space of mindfulness.
We can create new images and ideas in our minds that offer a positive outlook and can begin to implement changes in our lives that will directly relate to a new experience. When we practice guided meditation regularly, the phrases and offerings will begin to create a new reality that will in turn allow us to react differently to our pain and suffering.
Even ideas we have held onto for a long time can be changed or lessened through focused meditation and mindfulness.
