Why Use Guided Meditation (Visualisation) in Your Coaching Practice! And Who With?

In our busy world, meditation and mindfulness have never been more important!

And Guided Meditation is a type of meditation and powerful tool to help people connect to themselves, access their subconscious—and/or to relax.

When did you last allow yourself the luxury of doing nothing? When did you last stop and allow ideas to percolate or bubble up from your subconscious? What about getting still and connecting with your "self"?

These days people pack their days with activities, rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to let go of stress and tension. In fact we rush headlong through our days, weeks and months until they roll together, and before we know it another year has passed.

Why use meditation at all?

Meditation helps us learn to become still and observe who we really are. It allows us to see what's really going on with us, to identify our values and needs so we can care for ourselves both physically and mentally. It helps us get inspired, dream and plan. Meditation also help us to connect with the truth of things, to see what's really going on in with ourselves, in our home, workplace and the world.

But sadly, our culture, busy minds and lifestyles don't lend themselves to just sitting there. Our culture rewards productivity and it feels weird and uncomfortable to just be. Sit. Notice. Do nothing.

And that's where Guided Meditation helps. Rather than trying to sit and meditate alone, we have someone to guide us.

Here are some benefits of meditation I've personally experienced

• Making friends with my "self"!
• A grounding and centering ritual to start (and sometimes end) my day.
• A calming tool for when I'm anxious—to gain presence and shake free of my inner critic.
• Gaining valuable insights into who I am and what I want from my life.
• Creating a pathway to a "kind, wise self" for wisdom, clarity and insight.
• Increased "in the moment" mindfulness that helps me switch out my self-sabotaging behaviours.
• Meditation is also a valuable tool I share with my clients and groups—especially guided meditation which is a super-accessible way to get clients experiencing the benefits of meditation!

So, What is a Guided Meditation?

A guided meditation is where someone talks you through a meditation process using words—often, but not always, with a script. There is usually a goal or intention to help people relax, connect with themselves and become present.

Here are a few examples of Guided Meditation

• A calming visualization with a natural scene like looking out over a lake or being at the top of a mountain.
• An insight meditation to get answers to particular questions eg. meeting a future or wise self.
• Creating a resource like a beautiful personalised garden or inner space we can return to relax at any time.
• Creating an inner resource of a kind, wise self or inner warrior we can call on in difficult times.
• To visualise and connect to the future we want for our lives—a goal-setting aid.
• A simple "connect to our bodies and slow down" meditation where someone helps us count our breaths, or performs a bodily sensation scan.
• A "healing" visualization where we pay attention to our bodies and what needs our energy and attention.

Guided Meditations (as opposed to meditating alone) help because

• Gentle words and and calming visuals offer a doorway into the power of stillness.
• We're not trying to do it alone - particularly helpful for beginners.
• We're given instructions to follow - so no more confusion as to what we should be doing!
• Someone who embodies a calm state can role model a state of quiet and stillness.
• We can choose a guided meditation that suits our mood or need.
• We can select a visualization that fits the specific length of time we have available - even as little as a  minute or so!
• And finally, when someone guides us, we often reach a state of calm much more quickly than meditating on our own.

Who Can You Use Guided Meditation With?

Guided Meditation can be used with absolutely anyone! Any age, any career or role. This includes business owners, executives and leaders, busy mothers and even children. People who find guided meditation particularly helpful include:

• Busy leaders and executives who can add this tool to their toolbox to de-compress/relax quickly (in fact most successful leaders probably already meditate!)
• Harried business owners can use guided meditation to relax, and connect with themselves for important intuition/gut instincts...
• Stressed out moms can use a quick guided meditation to calm themselves before exploding!
• People juggling multiple roles and responsibilities can use this tool to slow down and help them connect to themselves so they can see their priorities.
• A tool for children. With younger children, it's good to stick to shorter and simpler visualizations - eg. simply around breathing and feeling their bodies. But guided meditation can be a great way to help children and young people connect to their bodies, inner selves, wishes, needs and also to find calm...
• Anyone can use guided meditation to slow down, get some distance, ground and reconnect to self when stressed, angry, upset, frustrated or overwhelmed.
• Anyone who wants to try and get started with meditation, but may be finding solo meditation challenging!

Wrap-up

Time is precious, Guided Meditation helps people quickly de-stress, relax and return to the present moment. It literally shows them how good it can feel to slow down and connect with the body - and who we are underneath all that rushing around. It is also a great way to enter the world of meditation and mindfulness.

Great for one-on-one clients, group coaching and in workshops, guided meditation helps to provide a window of calm, clarity and connection.

Coaching helps people connect to themselves and take action to create the life and be the person they want. Guided Meditation is a great way to help a client calm down and center themselves so they are in the best possible space to be coached.

And the great thing is, once you've shared a guided meditation with someone, that person now has another tool for their toolbox: the visualisation or process becomes a tool they can now use on their own when they need it.

It's really easy to read a guided meditation script for a client (10 great tips on how to read guided meditations here), and introduce your clients to the benefits of meditation.

What are you waiting for?

Feeling inspired to try Guided Meditation with your clients? Check out our toolkit: