When most people are asked to describe meditation, they'll think about monasteries and rooms full of monks. But that's by no means the only form of meditating. A visualization meditation - sometimes called a guided meditation - is another popular method that people use to meditate. So what is it exactly?

As a general rule, a visualization meditation will do exactly what it sounds as though it should do.

You'll sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

Next, you'll press 'play' on your CD player or iPod or whatever other device you're using.

Then you'll be taken into a state of deep relaxation. This will be done with a combination of background sounds - maybe new age music, maybe whale noises, maybe waves breaking on a beach or possibly the sound of rainfall. Anything to help you reach a deep meditative state, so there's also a chance that you'll have some binaural beats playing along in the background to help your brain reach an alpha or even theta level.

There'll also be some words spoken to help you reach this state. A calming voice will talk you through the relaxation process and will help you to get as relaxed as possible.

Once you're relaxed - usually within about 5 or 10 minutes of starting the track, the guiding voice will then start on the visualization part of the meditation.

This can go any one of a myriad of directions as there are visualizations available for most anything you want.

Some of the more common options include:

• Connecting with your higher self - the part of you that knows the course your life will be taking and that gently guides and oversees you
• Healing your body - this is done by encouraging your body to produce more of the natural chemicals that it uses to regulate your body on a daily basis. We react quite well to these external commands (if you've ever jumped in a scary movie, you'll know what I mean here).
• Attracting more good things into your life. This is an extension of the law of attraction, which says that we attract things into our lives according to what we focus on. This kind of visualization meditation is great if you're stuck in a rut in your life and need to break out of a downward spiral.

There are many other uses for visualization meditations that you can find with just a little research.