Most people are finding the stress of living, increasing significantly with every year that passes. Among the worries is politics, war, terrorism, the economy, money, the environment and jobs, among other things. There are various coping mechanisms that individuals use to deal with this stress, but many of them, like alcohol and other drug abuse are not in their best interest. However, there is a growing percentage of people who are choosing guided meditation, instead.

Meditation is not necessarily a religious act, but it is a part of most religions. The practice goes back thousands of years. We usually feed our minds with outside stimuli or internal dialogue that seems to constantly occur. Meditation is a way to take a break from that. It is a quieting of mind and it helps the left half and the right half of the brain to work together.

With traditional meditation, the concept is to let get of all your thoughts except for one thing, which gets your total focus. It may be your breathing, or a mantra (a special phrase or sound), or even a koan (an riddle with no answer, like, 'What is the sound of one hand clapping.")

Do not be surprised by the number of stray thoughts that come up. Just accept that it happens, let them go and refocus each time. You might become amazed how often this happens and how undisciplined your mind is. Most people who don't have a teacher just give up in frustration, rather than working through it.

Guided meditation is what is needed in these instances to prevent people from giving up. Yes, it can be live guidance, for instance from a teacher in a class, but more often it is from a recorded audio track which starts out with exact, step by step instructions which will help the individual to transition to a meditative state of being. This means that alpha brain waves are primarily being produced. Those are the same brain patterns you produce when starting to fall asleep.

The guided meditation will usually then transition into a visualization and story where you see yourself, in your mind's eye, accomplishing specific goals that you have committed to. The most powerful of these meditations will ask you to imagine your goals are already accomplished and feel the emotions that come with that.

Many successful people tell how guided meditations played a vital role in their accomplishments. It is a step away from classic meditation, which does not allow for outside stimuli, but can help develop the mental discipline to achieve that, if you choose. It is a blend of stress relieving meditation with task oriented hypnotic induction which allows you to program your mind for success.