Guided meditation

Guided meditation describes a form of meditation which utilizes a number of different techniques to achieve or enhance the meditative state. It may simply be meditation done under the guidance of a trained practitioner or teacher, or it may be through the use of imagery, music, and other techniques.^[1] The session can be either in person, via media^[2] comprising music or verbal instruction, or a combination of both.^[3][4] The most common form is a combination of meditation music and receptive music therapy, guided imagery, relaxation, mindfulness, and journaling.^[5][6][7]

Because of the different combinations used under the one term it can be difficult to attribute positive or negative outcomes to any of the various techniques. Furthermore, the term is frequently used interchangeably with "guided imagery" and sometimes with "creative visualization" in popular psychology and self-help literature. It is less commonly used in scholarly and scientific publications. Consequently, guided meditation cannot be understood as a single technique but rather multiple techniques that are integral to its practice.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Guided meditation as an aggregate or synthesis of techniques includes meditation music, receptive music therapy, guided imagery, relaxation, meditative praxis, and self-reflective diary-keeping or journaling. All of which have been shown to have therapeutic benefits when employed as an adjunct to primary strategies. Benefits include lower levels of stress,^[12] reducing asthmatic episodes,^[13] physical pain,^[14] insomnia,^[15] episodic anger,^[16] negative or irrational thinking,^[17] and anxiety, as well as improving coping skills,^[18] focus,^[19] and a general feeling of well-being.^[20][21]

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