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Meditation CollectorFeeling Stressed? Melt it Away for Better Health
Imagine you are sitting at home...
Your favorite television is about to come on. Suddenly, your legs feel weak. You feel flush. Your hands and feet begin to tingle. Your pulse skyrockets. You become dizzy. You start shaking. You cannot breathe. Your chest is hurting.
Are you having a heart attack? What will you do if you pass out?
Immediately, you call for help. At the ER, they inform you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you and that you can go home.
That was certainly not “nothing.” What just happened?
The Characteristics of Stress
We all handle stress on a daily basis. Stress can occur at work, home, even while running errands. Stress is not avoidable. Unfortunately, stress can build up and make a person physically and mentally ill.
Symptoms of excessive stress include:
Heartburn
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Ulcers
Weight gain and loss
Insomnia
Headaches
Hives and skin rashes
Back, shoulder, and neck pain
Fatigue
Muscle tension
High blood pressure
Dental problems
Cold or hot flashes
Panic/Anxiety attacks
Irregular heartbeat
Susceptibility to colds and flu
Difficulty concentrating
Depression
Phobias
Irritability
Sudden mood swings
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms (and it has been confirmed it is not caused by a medical condition), it might be time for you to start meditating and using other relaxation methods in order to reduce your stress. Of course, it is still a good idea to apply relaxation strategies even if you are not feeling stressed!
Causes of Stress
There are many factors that can contribute to stress. These include:
Financial worries
Poverty
School
Relationship difficulties
Moving
Birth of a child
Death
Job change
Crime
Drug or alcohol abuse
Illness (self or family member)
Sexual changes (impotence, menopause)
Abuse
Weather
Stress can also lead to additional problems, ranging from losing a job to losing friends. In some cases, stress has even been linked to heart attacks. Therefore, stress is something that every person should learn to control. The biggest way to reduce stress is by learning to relax, even when the pressure is on.
Coping with Stress
There are a number of effective ways to deal with stress. If your doctor prescribes anti-anxiety medications, get a second opinion. While prescription drugs can work, they often carry a number of unwanted side effects. The best method is to learn relaxation techniques.
You can learn to meditate on your own. Or you can pick a few guided meditations from Meditation Collector that work for you, and listen to one of them at least once a day.
If you can keep doing that for a while, I think you'll be surprised with the results.
With so much to gain and so little to lose, you should turn to relaxation and meditation and watch the stress simply melt away.
Let it Be Guided Meditation
Another high quality guided meditation from Meditation Oasis, recorded live with Marry Maddux' meditation group.
It follows the same theme(s) as the Simply Being, Effortless and Letting Go meditations. Also from Meditation Oasis...
Download Page
Look for "#30 - Let it Be"
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Intuitive Expressions
Intuitive Expressions is a monthly guided meditation podcast put out by Deborah Koan.
Deborah has a very warm soothing voice, and her guided meditations are very effective. Most of her guided meditations use a body scan type of energy work that I like very much.
One little critique I have is that the themes are sometimes a little too materialistically oriented, but that's about it.
The meditations are very relaxing.
Download Page
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The Best Benefits of Meditation
It’s something that is often associated with spirituality, yoga and religion, but the truth is that meditation is so much more than all these things put together.
It offers both physiological and psychological benefits, and best of all, it is easy enough to practice. No effort or strain is needed to meditate; all you need is a quiet place, a willing mind, and the ability to concentrate and let your mind and body relax.
While meditation is known to offer myriad benefits, I practice it regularly to attain a few that are to my personal advantage, such as:
Self control: When you meditate regularly, you find it easier to control your mind and body. I used meditation as a way to get out of a destructive relationship that I was addicted to. I knew it was not good for me, yet I could not find the strength to break free from the emotional shackles that tied me down. Until I took to meditating for an hour every morning and evening, that is. I was able to make the crucial decision to cut loose before the relationship completely destroyed me, and this is why I urge people who struggle with other addictions like alcohol and cigarettes to try meditation as a rehabilitation tool.
Determination: Only when you’ve tried meditation yourself do you realize the power it has in strengthening the mind and making you believe that you are capable of doing you set it to. So if you’re looking for success in a sport or hoping to win a game, train your mind as well as your body with a combination of physical and psychological exercises. When you meditate regularly focused on your goal, you are more likely to concentrate better and achieve success.
Detachment: If you’re someone with a quick temper that has gotten you into sticky situations more often than not, then you must try meditation as a tool to calm you down and help you deal with situations with a higher level of maturity. Meditation helps you deal with problems and irritations patiently and without losing your temper and saying or doing things that you will end up regretting later. You are able to deal with issues with a certain detachment that allows you to look at problems from a different point of view.
Besides these psychological advantages, meditation offers a host of physical advantages too, right from helping to reduce your blood pressure to enriching and elongating the quality and quantity of your life respectively. And since it’s easy, free and effective, there’s no reason not to practice meditation every day.
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of christian college online . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com.
Guided Imagery for Stress Relief & Relaxation
Format: MP3 Length: 15 minutes Voice: Female
Here's a very good guided meditation for Stress Relief and Relaxation.
According to the publisher, listening to this meditation regularly can reduce your stress considerably.
I'm sure that's the case, indeed! Any good (guided) meditation or other deep relaxation method practised regularly can do miracles for your (mental) health.
Listen Page
In order to listen to this guided meditation, you'll need to register on the page.
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Discover Your Inner Guide
If it's your thing, this is a very good meditation with which to find your own inner guide.
The voice your hear in this meditation, is from Dr. Dorothy May. More info on her can be found here.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation."
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Healing Meditation
A short healing meditation for instant rejuvenation.
The voice you hear in this meditation is not Patsy Grey, as with most Learning Meditation meditations, but Anne Rossiter. You can find more information about her here.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation."
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Peace and Serenity Meditation
A nice but very short Guided Imagery meditation.
It has you quickly visiting a beautiful place of your choice.
Ideal for a short relaxing escape...
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation".
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Trust Your Own Instincts
Often the answers to life's most difficult questions can be found within ourselves.
With the help of this meditation from Learning Meditation, you can develop trust in your own inner voice.
Ask it any question you want an answer to. If you listen closely, you may just get it!
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation".
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Children Meditation Series
Here again, we have a few more meditations for children.
There short, innocent and you can review the actual text before downloading/listening, so you can check to see if one is suitable for your child.
The following meditations for children are available here:
Relaxation
Awareness
Observation
Feelings/Sensations
Validation
I think that they're very good!
Download Page
Select the Meditation of your choice on the right.
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Chakra Meditation
Slowly but surely, we continue indexing the Learning Meditation guided meditations.
This is a short and simple Chakra meditation. In it, you'll be focussing your attention on the major Chakra's.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation".
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Reducing Stress Meditation
A very short but effective stress buster!
In it, you'll be using the breath to relax the body and mind.
Recommended for a quick mid-day refreshment.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation".
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Work Break Meditation
A nice soothing Work Break Meditation.
Modern types of work don't exactly promote health or relaxation, so it's good to take short meditation/relaxation breaks from time to time.
This one's not even five minutes, and so there are no excuses possible. :-)
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation."
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Quick Getaway Meditation
Today I start with indexing the guided meditations from the Learning Meditation's Meditation Room. They have published a series of good short guided meditations.
The first one is called "Quick Getaway Meditation", and is exactly that. It is a guided imagery that has you "escaping" to a beautiful white sandy beach.
The lovely voice you hear is from Patsy Grey. You read more about her and her remarkable introduction to meditation here.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation"
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Learning Meditation Meditation Music
Here are three very nice music-only tracks from Learning Meditation.
The tracks are rather short, but they are beautiful, somewhat dramatic arrangements.
The first track has a short spoken introduction in it.
Download Page
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Soothing Session
Second meditation from the Learning Meditation Meditation Room.
This is a combination of a Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Body Scan and a visualization exercise.
Try it out. It's only five minutes and may refresh you a lot.
Download Page
Look for "Click here to begin your meditation"
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Buddhist Meditations and Talks
The guys and girls from the Buddhist community are usually a helpful bunch. It's no different when it comes to offering guided meditations and talks, free of charge.
Here are some great Websites offering free Buddhist guided meditations and talks.
It may be a little overwhelming to go through all of the materials here, but I recommend you at least give it a try. You never know where it may lead you...
Do it Yourself Dharma:
Guided Meditations
Talks
Dharma Seed:
Talks
For guided meditations use "guided meditation" as search term here.
Audio Dharma:
Guided Meditations
Talks can be selected in the "Series Talks" category on the left.
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Project Meditation
Publisher: Project Meditation
Project Meditation offers a free 4 CD meditation course. Not only that, they also offer an impressive number of free guided meditation and hypnosis audio files.
As of now, titles include:
Reducing Stress Developing Mental Abilities Experience Better Relationships Help Addictive Traits Relieve Sleep Problems Relieve Panic Attacks Relieve Depression Greater Spiritual Connection Eliminate Self Imposed Limitations Relieve Anger Motivation and Confidence Greater Inner Peace Improve a Health Problem Help Emotional Trauma Weightloss Deep Relaxation Prosperity and Success Relieve Physical Pain Relieve Anxiety Phobias
All you need to do is register, and you'll have free access to the course and meditations. They also have a pretty active forum on everything meditation. So, if interested, check it out. Download Page - Course Download Page - Guided Meditations
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Body Scan meditation
Publisher: TaralokaFormat: MP3 Length: 40.67 minutes Voice: Female
This is a guided Body Scan sent to me by a very helpful reader of this Blog.
Thank you!
It's a nice addition to our Body Scans and PMR category!
In this meditation Vidyamala Burch guides us into a very relaxed state, by focussing on the different parts of our bodies.
I especially liked the breath-into-back technique. Very relaxing.
Download Page
Look for "Download here (17MB)"
*Taraloka is a Women’s Buddhist Community and Retreat Centre in the UK.
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Enhancing Creativity Guided Meditation
Meditation Oasis has a new guided meditation out!
This meditation aims to get your creative juices flowing. You can read Mary Maddux' comments on this episode here.
As you may know, I don't post guided visualizations here that are too materialistic in nature. At least not individually. (You may find some in the Collections category.)
I try to avoid "Law of Attraction" stuff as much as possible. Of course I do not consider a guided meditation on creativity to be in that mold. Just use your new found creativity in a constructive way. ;-)
Meditation Oasis puts out great guided meditations, and I hope they'll continue doing it for a long time!
Download Page
Look for "#29 - Enhance Your Creativity Meditation"
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The Gift of Relaxation
Publisher: Dr. David M. Pierce
Format: Flash/MP3
Length: 16.09 minutes
Voice: Male
Dr. David M. Pierce, a certified Hypnotherapist, has created a very relaxing guided Progressive Muscle Relaxation, for us to enjoy.
The guided meditation in itself isn't much different from other PMR's on this site, but it's very well produced and a different voice and production may do wonders for you.
On Dr. Pierce's Website, there are also two hypnosis files you can download. "Releasing Your Hold on Cigarettes" and "Hypnosis for Weight Control." They are not really suitable for my Blog, but they may be useful to you.
Download Page
Look for "The Gift of Relaxation"
By clicking on the "Jump to Free Download Site" link, you can both listen to this guided meditation online, as well as download an MP3 file.
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Meditation Station
Publisher: Stin Hansen
Format: MP3
Voice: Female
If you like guided meditations, you're going to like Stin Hansen's podcast "Meditation Station"
Stin regularly puts out guided meditation and hypnosis files and she's has very soothing voice. Throughout the last couple of years, I've listened to quite a few of the Meditation Station episoded!
I thought about adding the meditations individually, but some of the older episodes seem to have vanished. I believe they are still accessible on her subscription Website MyThoughtCoach.com
Also, sometimes her meditations are somewhat too hypnosis oriented to be really suitable for this site.
Download Page
OR
for older episodes (for as long as they last)
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Choices Meditation for Children
A visualization exercise for children. A bit in the mold of the "Law of Attraction", but more innocent.
This meditation concludes the meditation for Children series of the Meditation Society of Australia. I hope to find and add more guided meditations for children to Meditation Collector in the near future.
Download Page
Look for "download this meditation exercise as MP3"
An introductory talk on the Choices meditation is also available, and can be downloaded by clicking on the "download this class MP3" link.
Before letting your child listen to this and other guided meditations for children, it is recommended you listen to it yourself first. This way, you can determine for yourself if it's suitable for your child to listen to.
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Loving Yourself Meditation for Children
A meditation for children to help them love and accept themselves.
Download Page
Look for "download this meditation exercise as MP3"
An introductory talk on the Loving Yourself meditation is also available, and can be downloaded by clicking on the "download this class MP3" link.
Before letting your child listen to this and other guided meditations for children, it is recommended you listen to it yourself first. This way, you can determine for yourself if it's suitable for your child to listen to.
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Who Is? Meditation for Children
A confusing title, but this meditation is basically a guided imagery where your child is being guided to walk along a beautiful ocean beach and try out the water.
Quite calming for children, I can imagine!
This one is mostly suitable for children aged 9 through 13.
Download Page
Look for "download this meditation exercise as MP3"
An introductory talk on Who Is? is also available, and can be downloaded by clicking on the "download this class MP3" link.
Before letting your child listen to this and other guided meditations for children, it is recommended you listen to it yourself first. This way, you can determine for yourself if it's suitable for your child to listen to.
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