Guided meditation

[GarethJS]

Hi everyone, can I ask a quick question? I've been practicing mindfulness for a few months now to help with some intense anxiety. I've been working through the 'Mindfulness for Dummies' guidebook and using some of the YouTube videos for guided meditation. I still feel like a complete novice and I'm not sure I'm practicing mindfulness correctly. My question is: does anybody else use any of the guided meditation videos on YouTube? If so, do you recommend any in particular? I'm worried that I'm not using the most effective videos, and wonder whether mindfulness meditation is considered to be more effective when done without any potentially distracting audio. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much,

G.

[leosmith]

Hi G! When I started meditation (about 6 months ago) one of my early goals was to get accustomed to it then shed my reliance on guided meditation. It was ok, but I felt I still had much to learn. Then I started hearing about cheap apps with minimal, high quality guidance. I tried one and it was much better than the older guided apps I'd tried. And I really liked the fact that there was something new each session. I'll probably use this app (Headspace) until I finish most of the units, so well over a year from now. If you would like, I've got a 1 month free coupon you could use. I am in no way affiliated with them, nor do I stand to gain in any way.

I do those for 10min every morning, even though 15 and 20 min versions are available. Often in the afternoon I'll do a free youtube meditation. I have 2 favorites that I'd like to share, but it appears I'm not even able to paste text here, much less provide a link. Feel free to pm me if you are interested.

[Matt Y]

There's nothing whatsoever wrong with using Guided Meditations. They can be excellent 'training wheels' and some people are entirely happy sticking with them indefinitely. youtube, of course, can be a bit hit and miss, but if it works for you, then it can't be too bad.

There are some helpful apps available too. There's a lot of variety on Insight Timer (https://insighttimer.com/) a free app with quite a few meditations specifically addressing anxiety.

[Gareth]

I don't know if the quality of meditations on InsightTimer is vetted. Somebody once told me about something they heard on there that seemed like really unhelpful mindfulness advice. Completely anecdotal.

I think that the safest way of learning mindfulness is to go and do the 8-wk course somewhere; that will cost you money of course.

You could try one of the highly rated books? Finding Peace in a Frantic World' is universally acclaimed.

[JonW]

There's some good stuff on Insight Timer but, on the whole, it is a little patchy. Also, the app tends to be juice-thirsty on smartphones.
Mindfulness can be difficult to get a grounding in without some structure. As Gareth says, you could look into getting a teacher (please feel free to contact me about that via the link below). Another alternative is doing an 8-week course via a book. Finding Peace In A Frantic World is the one I usually recommend.
All best wishes,
Jon

[GarethJS]

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice. Thanks so much for the insight Leo. I'll PM you to get those links. I've spent quite a lot of time looking through all of the ones on YouTube although admittedly, I've only found a couple that I like. I've tried Headspace before, but only stuck with it for a short while. I think that I should perhaps give it another go and agree that having something new to listen to each session was really beneficial.

Gareth and Jon, I really like the sound of using the book 'Finding Peace In A Frantic World', so thanks for the recommendation. I think I might get that. Also, thanks Matt for the link to Insight Timer - that's something else that I'm now currently looking at, although I also appreciate the words of caution with that one. Lots of great advice! Thanks again for your help. G.