Leading a Meditation? Guidance notes

Regular and Monday Meditations are no longer held.

However, meditation is often used as part of a get-together, on-line or face-to-face, and information on these pages may be useful to those joining in.

In 2012 and 2014 some of those who had led meditations held workshops to share their knowledge and experience. These are the notes from the discussions. It is not intended to restrict the creativity of what arises on the night but to give a basic foundation from which to work.

These discussions provided an opportunity for all to share and learn from each other. We all have experiences from life and during meditation practice. We shared these in order to enhance the Monday night event for everyone.

Meditation – the aim is to access our spiritual core, soul, to connect to our inner self, higher self, sacred self.

Healing Circle - Each person is responsible for their own healing, we are there to witness & support each personal process.

We asked ourselves, how do we achieve this individually and as a group and what are the affects of trying? It was our intention that everything that occurs in this group is for the benefit and highest good of ourselves and all beings.

Leading a meditation

Preparation:

Everything is in the preparation and the discipline of the meditation. “A meditation is a happening not a doing” is a good phrase to guide you through the design of the meditation. Choose your focus. You can use someone else's meditation or a CD, but it should be one you have used yourself more than once, and that you are totally familiar with. This is acting with integrity. Do not be self indulgent. You will automatically draw from your own experience but be aware that meditation is for each person's individual soul path, and to explore that you need to ask yourself how does this benefit the spiritual life of the people who will do this meditation.

It is more fun and rewarding to write your own script. And also often more worthwhile for the people who are meditating as it will carry your very special energy. What do you want to accomplish? deep relaxation or a particular theme, such as meeting a guardian angel, working the chakras, activating happiness with an inner smile.

If the process is relaxing and fun for you it will be for the people who do the meditation.

Practice and fine tune the meditation beforehand by speaking it out loud. Be aware of the energy of your voice during the meditation. Start firmly and energetically, then soften and speak more slowly, finishing louder and with bright energy.

Meditation.

Take people into a relaxed state. Give time - a minute or two – for everyone to settle down and be comfortable. Depending on how you want the flow to work, you can "count them down" to relaxation. Keep it short, 10 numbers at most, 5 and 3 are as effective. Relax by mentioning parts of the body and saying 'relax'. Maybe suggest they are somewhere warm like a jacuzzi bath or warm spring.

Doing a visualisation check that you have a beginning, middle and end.

Some imagery to start a meditation includes opening a door or gate, a path through a forest, exploring a cave, climbing a mountain, walking along a corridor with doors off it.

As the story unfolds, you can suggest people / animals / situations to meet, or walk through a landscape which is symbolic, suggest maybe it is day or night, winter or summer, give options not specifics unless it is important to your story, find gifts, release unwanted baggage, and so on.

As the meditation ends raise the tone of your voice. Return to the starting point. Tell people it is time to come back. Reverse the count, come back through the door or gateway. Remind them of the awareness of their physical body, and the physical surroundings. Bring attention to the chair they are sitting on, feet on the ground. Tell them to become aware of their next breath. To come back to awareness of their sensations and sounds in the room. At the end, tell them that they can open their eyes when they are ready.

Setting Sacred Space.

Choose appropriate gentle music for when people arrive. Introduction – soothing. Closure – invigorating.

Tune in yourself as people arrive, generating the sincere wish to be of benefit to the people who attend.

At 8pm welcome people into the space with welcome intention sentence and give a brief outline of the evening.

Meditations

The aim of meditation is to foster an awareness of the inner self and interconnectedness with all beings. It connects us with insight into own life force spirit and soul path. It can include visualisation and a journey but meditation is an inward not an outward journey – it is to find that eternal still space that is within us all. Once found it can then be connected to the outer world and the universe.

Music in meditation. Introduction – soothing. Closure – invigorating.

Before leaving home set the intention for meditation. Get yourself into meditation mode. Spend short time reflecting on your motivation: generate a sincere wish to be of benefit to people who attend.

Start and end the group session with words of focus – such as.... Welcome. It is our intention that everything that happens in this group tonight is for the highest good of all.

When leading a meditation be aware of people in meditation – if there new people in the room welcome them and tell them that they can join in whatever they wish to or just observe to get a feel for what happens – we do not follow a strict practice but we do follow general guidelines for the night.

Do not do the meditation yourself – you should have practised it beforehand. Your attention should be in the care and well being of those you are leading. You need to be aware of what is happening.

Write a script. Don’t talk all the way through a meditation. Provide pauses.

Keep track of time.

Don't ask questions during the meditation, as this will quickly destroy the meditative mindset.

Voice training for leading meditations. Speak slowly in a calm, clear voice. Do not whisper, as straining to hear may jolt someone out of a meditative state.

Visualisation - give one instruction, wait for five seconds and then give another instruction. If your meditation involves people exploring on their own allow five to ten minutes at least for them to do this.

We are all different and prefer different forms of meditation. Some weeks are more enjoyable than others. We have a variety of leaders to keep the energy flowing and not becoming stale in our practice.

Meditation is dance, chant, music, physical, not just silent quiet or tranquil. Keep it simple.

Do you use incense? The smell sets up the space and reminds all this is place of meditation. Best to use beforehand rather than during the meditation, as heightened awareness can make it an irritant.

Analysis and sharing at the end of meditation. We do not do this in the full group as the evening is not a workshop. Matters can be raised over tea and biscuits or privately.

Healing Circle

Each person is responsible for their own healing – we are there to witness and support their personal process.

We are simply providing a space to speak - we do not respond or react to the input. All intentions are being put out to the Universe to deal with, not to the people in the group to deal with. This is not a mini-personal healing session where you give someone reiki etc. That is done one to one or in focussed healing groups using a particular practice. It is intrusive to the people receiving the healing if such practices are done without the knowledge and consent of the person receiving. This is acting with integrity.

The healing is for the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives of those present and in these realms for their intentions for others.

Rounds have clarity of intention – first personal, second for friends and family, third for other issues. Energetically this takes the energy of the circle from within ourselves, outward and out again. In the last more open circle it is not good practice to suggest to the circle that they “say anything you have forgotten”, as that withdraws the mind back from the expanded sense.

Personal intention round – when we say our name we receive the healing – when someone else is saying their name others send them blessings for their highest good.

Friends and families intentions round – we put in people who has asked us to put their intentions into the circle and those people that we know personally.

Wider issues – Sending the healing out from the group to the world. This can be putting in all other matters and also include a general focus on the planet.