Question about "guided meditation' programs

For meditation as a means of deep relaxation, do these things work or are they just a plain old scam? I"m a little skeptical of binaural beats (seems like bullshit), but even just the normal sort... or am I better off finding some literature and doing it the old fashioned way?

 

Good observations - there are certainly plenty of scams and bullshit about - especially many of the so called gurus!

Here are a couple of references that I feel are quite good

http://www.opentopossibilities.com/background.htm - great intro along with some practical
http://www.yogameditation.com/products/yoga_nidra - this a a standard field tested deep relaxation technique - really good
http://www.human-alchemy.com/CD_Products_page.php - "Adventures of Well Being Now" and "Letters To Your Unconscious" - great for getting into deep states.


Just bear in mind with continued use you mind will start to wander .

If you want to meditate - then do some breath meditation it is simple and effective, and of course speak/email people who have practical experience in meditating (not just information gatherers)


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“The only illumination you will get from a book is by burning it”
www.acceleratedstates.com

 

Cool. Thanks. These seem pretty interesting.

Too bad there's no lengthy previews or ways to see if they really work before buying. I usually stick to downloading, then weeding out the ones that are actually good and deserve my money before making a purchase... similar to what I do to music. The only difference is, I haven't bought a meditation program just yet because they don't even relax me! I'm better off just listening to the ambient music I already love.

 

You might like to look into the guided meditation programs put out by Reginald A. Ray. I was never interested in such an approach before I was exposed to his teachings, he lead a short guided breathing exercise when I saw him speak in Seattle which opened my eyes in a number of ways, really blew me away. His website has posted a number of online interviews you can listen too, which I found absolutely wonderful. Just now I discovered a link to download a 4 cd set called Meditating with the Body, (<- this link has an audio sample.) Meditating with the Body is from 2003, he put a two volume audio series in 2008 called "Your Breathing Body" alongside a book called "Touching Enlightenment" which I'd really like to get a copy of.

My wife once bought me a Yoga Nidra cd which was horrible, it was a sweet gift, but I couldn't even listen to it. Nothing at all like the beautiful experiences I'd had with personal instruction. Generally I am not for this type of practice, however I think it depends on the teacher and how much heart they've put into their work. They can also be very good for a student who doesn't have direct access to a teacher.

 

Guided meditation is fine at a beginners stage. But at some point you have to drop that external dependence.