In this article, we’re going to discuss how to create a guided meditation. Specifically, we’re going to cover how to conceptualize, structure, write, and deliver a guided meditation to your audience.
Whether you want to create meditation audio, lead live guided meditations with clients 1-on-1, integrate guided meditations In workshops, leading meditation classes, or creating a meditation for a loved one, knowing how to do your own guided meditations is an incredibly dynamic and valuable skill set for facilitating healing and change.
Our focus will be on common core principles and concepts that will help you in your creative process to create the most effective meditation experiences possible, no matter the application.
So, let’s dive deeper…
Choose a desired outcome for your guided meditation
In order to understand how to do a guided meditation, it is important to first understand the clear difference between guided meditation and meditation/mindfulness in general.
The most Most meditation teacher trainings on the market teach the process of how to “teach” others how to meditate, but knowing how to create a guided meditation is something else entirely.
Because guided meditation is, as its name suggests, “guided”, it is important to understand that each meditation creates needs in order to have a specific purpose or desired result.
This desired result can be as broad as facilitating a state of physiological and psychological calm or as specific as helping someone overcome their fear of public speaking.
Whichever the case, you need to have a clear idea of where and why you want to guide meditation participants who you plan to create.
This concept will act as a guiding principle for each word you write and how you pronounce each word when recording or facilitating your meditation.
Keep one unifying purpose in mind throughout the creative process will keep you focused and l o It will help write meditations that are most effective in facilitating deep healing and transformation for your selves participating in the meditation.
The desired outcome will also dictate the duration and elements (guided imagery, insight-provoking questions, etc.) necessary to facilitate such a transformation, so taking the time to clarify exactly why you are about to write your meditation is an essential first step on your creative journey.
Basic Structure of Guided Meditation
No matter what type of meditation you plan to create, there is a framework that all effective meditations follow.
In the Guided Meditation Framework, we call this the “Bookend Framework.”
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The Bookend Framework consists of three sequential parts: The Starter Bookend, The Mid-Meditation Bookend, and the Final Bookend, each with their own specific purpose, which I describe below.
The bookend Initial Bookend
The purpose of the initial bookend is to move a person from a waking state to a meditative state. This is accomplished by guiding participants to focus on breathing slowly and progressively relaxing various points of tension in their bodies. This is the most important part of a guided meditation, because it creates the necessary physiological state for participants to fully participate in and benefit from the experience, so it is vital not to rush through the initial Bookend.
The Half of the Meditation
The purpose of the Meditation is to facilitate the desired transformation that you have chosen for your experience. After shifting your participants’ focus and physiology into a meditative state, the meditation half is where you guide your participants into their hearts and/or imagination to spark an understanding or facilitate positive change there for enjoyment. This part of the meditation is where your creativity meets the practical application of your meditation to create a uniquely transformative and healing experience.
The Ending Bookend
The Purpose of The Ending Bookend is to make the transition. Return your participant from a meditative state to a waking state of consciousness. This is accomplished by gradually returning your participants to their bodies, focusing on various focal points starting from the feet and working your way up to the head, until they finally open their eyes to conclude the experience. This part of a meditation is very important, because pulling someone out of a meditation abruptly can be detrimental to the effectiveness of a guided meditation and even scare participants to the point of negating any benefit received in the middle of the meditation.</p
To better conceptualize how to apply this framework when writing meditations, you’ll want to think of the beginning and end of the book as constants, with the middle of the meditation being the variable that gives each meditation its unique characteristics and focus.
That way, you’ll have a repeatable system for getting people in and out of a meditative state effectively that you can become familiar with, so you can save your creative energy on how to facilitate your desired unique results. at the center of each meditation.
Writing a Meditation Script
Before attempting to write your own meditation script, it is important that you have substantial experience and education in conducting meditation. guided meditations. Experience using proven scripts and frameworks and having done guided meditations before will give you the understanding you need to write an effective script.
Assuming you have completed meditation facilitator training or already have the adequate experience leading guided meditations, this is a simple process for writing impactful meditation scripts:
Step 1: Choose the desired outcome for your meditation
How As mentioned earlier, the first step in creating a guided meditation script is to choose the destination to which you will guide your participants first. Choosing a specific purpose or desired outcome for the meditation will act as your guiding principle for each word you choose, whether or not you decide to use guided imagery, and how long your meditation should last to facilitate transformation.
Step 2: Choose a Core Transformation Catalyst
Once you have chosen your desired outcome, the next step is to discover the mechanism that can inspire your participants to potentially achieve that desired outcome during the middle of the Meditation.
Here are 3 examples of transformational catalysts to center the experience:
- A deep and relevant question for your participants to explore as they in a meditative state (eg, “What am I tolerating?”)
- Guided imagery culminating in a meeting with a “character” who delivers a message (eg, future self, inner child, loved one, etc.)
- A scenario that facilitates a change of perspective that allows them to see a situation from a more beneficial point of view (p. Imagine giving a speech and the crowd applauding (for someone struggling with a fear of public speaking)
While there are limitless ways to address this core catalyst, the important thing is that this mechanism is in place. appropriately calibrated for the purpose, application, and audience of your guided meditation.
This catalyst will act as the pinnacle of the guided meditation experience: the point at which the value of the guided meditation is actualized in the hearts and minds of your participants.
Once you have this figured out, it’s time to write a meditation script focused on delivering this key element to your participants.
Step 3: Write Your Meditation Script
Assuming you have written the beginning and ending bookend portions of your meditation script mentioned above, the next step is to write the meditation half.
The purpose of the middle of the script is to facilitate the desired outcome you’ve chosen, and the mechanism for achieving that goal is the catalyst you chose in the previous step.
Then, after After completing the initial Bookend (i.e., progressive relaxation), your goal is to guide your participants to the specific question, scene, or through whatever process will ultimately reap the specific benefit of the experience.
Here are some tips for writing your own meditation script:
- Less is more. Use as few words as possible to achieve your goal
- If using guided imagery, keep in mind that the speed of imagination is instantaneous. Just describe what you want your audience to experience at that exact moment (ie if you mention a cabin in the distance, your participants will instantly travel there, not wait for you to guide them through the images)</li
- Model scripts and meditations that you enjoy. When you’re new to creating guided meditations, examples are essential to get you started on the right track. Find sample scripts similar to the one you are trying to create and use them to help you structure your meditation script effectively
Step 4: Record and listen to your meditation script
Once you’ve written your script, the next step is to try out your guided meditation for yourself. To do this, make a simple recording using your phone, then listen to it as you would if you were a participant.
Here are some things to keep in mind when trying out your meditation script:
- Listen and take note of where you are talking too much, and edit the script as much as possible until only the most essential words and phrases remain
- Find trouble spots in the images where there is friction between what you are imagining and what your script asks you to imagine, then edit the script to be more congruent with the language of imagination
- Listen to your timing and take notes on where you should pause to allow participants more time to engage in the experiences
Once you have listened to your meditation 2-3 times and identified the aspects that could be improved, it is time to do your revisions and finalize your meditation script.
Step 5: Review and Finish Your Meditation
Based on the ideas from the previous step, you’ll want to edit your script and put it in a more final format than h It will make it easier to record or use the meditation script.
Once you have removed the unnecessary language and adjusted for any conflicts you experienced with the guided imagery, I suggest that you integrate some time notation into the script to help you keep the time appropriate.
You can do this by placing characters at the end of sentences or specific instructions that indicate the amount of time you decide is appropriate.
In the framework of meditation guided, we use one tilde (~) to indicate half a breath cycle, two tildes (~~) to indicate a full breath cycle, and three tildes (~~~) to indicate pauses of more than one breath cycle, typically for moments in meditation where contemplation, imagination, or deeper relaxation is called for in the script.
Adding measured time notation in breath duration will help you pronounce in a synergistic rhythm and help you Don’t rush when your nerves recording or doing a guided meditation inevitably wash over you.
Once you’ve added the time, convert your script to the format that’s most comfortable for you to read. I suggest using Google Docs as you can access your script and print it from any device. Plus, if you want to read your script from your phone, Google Docs seamlessly optimizes its scale on mobile devices for easy reading on any size screen.
Choosing a meditation medium
Now that you’ve created a meditation, the next step is to publish it for people to experience and benefit from. While I won’t be able to give you a complete roadmap to building a meditation business in this blog, here are some tips and considerations for choosing a delivery method:
Meditation classes or workshops
Leading a meditation class or creating a workshop is a great reason to do your own guided meditations. Because you can tailor your script to specific themes and outcomes, guided meditations can act as powerful catalysts for change to bring the entire experience into focus or to be integrated into a larger workshop framework.
Classes and the workshops are also a fantastic introduction. offers to convert your audience into leads for higher ticket offers or 1-on-1 sessions.
Meditation Audio or Video
Creating meditation audio or video is another great way to use your meditation script. Meditation recordings can be given to workshop participants or clients 1-on-1 to provide value between sessions or after a workshop is complete.
Meditation audios can be incorporated into a course at line to help your students engage more deeply with your content and can also be repurposed in videos to increase your visibility on YouTube or other social platforms.
For more on this, check out my articles on the best way to record a meditation and how to create a meditation video.
One on One
If you already work with clients 1 on 1 or plan to become a meditation coach, creating guided meditation experiences for your clients is one of the most effective ways you can use this skill set.
Custom tailoring your meditation script to address your client’s specific needs, in the moment during a session or between/after a session such as an audio meditation, it is a powerful way to support your client’s progress.
I hope this article has been valuable and has given you a clearer idea of how Create a guided meditation. If you’d like more help with this, feel free to check out our Guided Meditation Facilitator Training to see if our professional training could help you grow as a meditation leader.
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