Image CC on Flickr by Robin Summerhill

In the last year or so I have used a number of resources to experiment with different meditations, including some free online course programmes (with the Mentors Channel), as well as using free guided meditations audio files.

Some of these have been really good and I’ve incorporated them into my own meditation practice and also then taught them in my classes.

One of these is ‘meditation for working with difficulties’ by Diana Winston. It explores the response in our minds and body to pain or discomfort and introduces a technique of observing pain and discomfort whilst also seeking to dissolve some of that unpleasant feeling, but doing so by remaining relatively detached, not getting too involved with the emotions. It’s quite a simple technique but useful.

I did this practice in a couple of my classes this week. For those who liked it and wanted the real thing, here it is! You can listen to the audio file online on the Mindful Awareness Research Center website and it’s 7 minutes long.

If you liked that, you could check out some of the other ones she has available (all on the same page) and their longer guided meditations which are also available for free listening online.

There are of course, lots of other websites offering free guided meditations for example Audio Dharma.

Enjoy!