It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner to meditation or you’ve been doing it for some time. There will likely come a point when you wonder ‘is it better to meditate with a guide, or unguided in silence?’
There are pros and cons to both, which I’ll discuss in this article. To finish, I’ll talk about my own experience and offer some advice on how to build up to unguided meditation.
Audio recorded guided meditations are more affordable and accessible than having a teacher. So, when I talk about guided meditation, I’m referring to audio recordings.
If you do have the opportunity to learn to meditate in either a group or one-on-one then I’d urge you to try it. Providing the teacher is authentic, patient, caring, and experienced. Meditating with people face-to-face can be therapeutic, dynamic, and encouraging. You may even form new friendships.
Guided Meditation Pros
Good for Beginners
When you first start meditating, it can feel a little daunting and intimidating. Why? Because our minds are chaotic, noisy, and loud. To sit down with no distractions, confronting your mind can feel unusual and uncomfortable.
Trying to learn how to meditate on your own can be challenging and off-putting. Meditation takes time to develop. To begin with it’s beneficial to have a guide to help you learn the fundamentals.
Help You to Remain Focussed
Trying to meditate on your own -even for advance meditators- can be challenging at times. It doesn’t matter how good you concentration is, your mind will wander.
Proper guidance will include encouragements, prompts, and reminders. These help to direct your focus back to the present moment. Otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in in thought.
Easy to Follow
Experienced and attentive meditators who record audio meditations are usually easy to follow. That’s because they are aware of the challenges, obstacles, pitfalls, and frustrations that can come with the practice.
Great for More Specific Practices
There are different types of meditation. Some of which lend themselves well to a guide as they’re more specific.
For example, there is a body scan meditation where you pay attention to individual parts of the body one at a time. This helps you to be more aware of the feelings and sensations that arise within your body.
Another example is a meta meditation. This helps you to develop compassion for yourselves and others. Even people you’re not so fond of. Trying to manifest compassion on command is challenging. Having a guide can assist you.
Lots of Choice
It’s not all about sitting with your eyes closed, you can follow guided meditations for all kind of purposes. Some use mantras, imagery, focus on the senses, prepare the body for sleep and relaxation. Others help you explore difficult emotions, make use of movement, and cultivate compassion.
The list is big and there is a lot to explore. I encourage you to try different meditations to see what find enjoyable.
Guided Meditation Cons
They Can Be Distracting
One downside of having a guide is that they can be distracting. Meditating is a very personal practice. I have tried quite a lot of different apps and sometimes I don’t like the rhythm and timing of them.
They may talk too often, flow in an unnatural pace, or incorporate breathing techniques that I don’t like.
If you have a similar experience, you may become discouraged from trying to meditate at all. So, try many to see which ones you resonate with. Or give unguided meditation a go.
It’s Hard to Find the Right Voice
Finding the right voice is important. Some are calm, mellow, gentle, and soothing. Others can be too loud, too quiet, mumbly, harsh sounding, or they may be trying too hard to sound relaxing.
This is also a very personal thing. It’s similar to how we connect with some people and not others. Quite often we can’t even explain why this happens.
It’s like chemistry and the same applies to meditation. Again I encourage you to try many guides, until you find one that compliments your practice.
They Can Become Boring
If you listen to the same meditation or voice repeatedly, it can become boring and lose its impact. If this happens, mix it up. This will to keep your meditation practice fresh and engaging. You may also find there are some you keep going back to. If so, that’s great. I also have favourites I revisit.
Unguided Meditation Pros
Empowers You to go Deeper
Silent, unguided meditation is much harder than following a guide. There is no voice to bring you back to the present. It’s now up to you. But don’t let that scare you.
This can be an opportunity to deepen your practice. Empowering you to have moments of clarity and discover more about yourself. You’ll find that meditating alone it can be a challenging but liberating journey.
Some people even go on silent retreats. Here they’r alone for days, with no human interaction but plenty of time to meditate. In these moments you can find yourself, or rather lose yourself (the ego), and become more in tune with nature.
You Direct the Flow
In unguided meditation you dictate the speed, rhythm, timing, and direction. You can choose what to use as an anchor to stay grounded in the present.
You decide how to breath, what techniques to follow, and which meditation to practice. You also choose what to pay attention to. Or you may adjust the meditation according to what’s arising in the moment. Whether that be an emotion, sensation, or feeling.
It’s all up to you.
You Can Take Your Time
5, 10, 20 minutes, an hour. How long do you want to meditate for? When does it feel right to end the meditation? These are the kind of decisions you can make when you’re not following a guide. There is no one confining you.
It’s useful to set a timer. Some apps like Waking Up have one that plays gentle bell sounds. I use this option so I still have a prompt to bring my attention back to the present, without it being a person speaking.
Unguided Meditation Cons
More Challenging
As I said earlier, silent meditation is more challenging. This can be a positive but also a con. Particularly for beginners as they don’t know the best way to start. Even when experienced meditators are having a difficult day, they can struggle to sit in silence with no guide.
This is why it’s helpful to switch between the two according to how you’re feeling.
It’s Easier to Get Lost in Thought
The challenging aspect of unguided meditation can lead to frustration. Remember our minds can be chaotic, impulsive, and take us places we don’t want to go. Our thoughts can be self-critical, counterproductive, judgemental, and self-sabotaging.
Trying to meditate in silence without a guide can feel intimidating and unsettling. All of a sudden must you face your mind alone with nobody’s guidance to help bring you back to the present.
Which is Right for You?
Like most beginners I started with audio guides. This was useful as meditating at that time felt difficult to grasp, practice, and follow. My mind would wander off often and I needed a voice to help guide me back to the present.
I kept switching between different guided meditations to find ones that complimented my practice. There were some I tried to stick to, but I didn’t realise they were making my meditations worse.
I also wondered why my meditations seemed to be becoming less enjoyable. I began to realise the guides were getting in my way. I wasn’t enjoying the pace and direction they took me in.
I found that when the voices spoke, it would often interrupt my own natural flow. So, I started to practice silent meditations. Yes, it’s harder but much more rewarding for me personally.
I still go back to guided meditations at times. Especially for more specific practices like the body scan or meta, which I find harder to do alone. Also, if my mind is erratic, I’ll go back to a favourite guide I’m familiar with.
I’m not at all suggesting you will have the same experience, just food for thought. Here’s my suggestion to you. If you’re a beginner, use guided meditations and experiment. Try different types of meditations, apps, websites, and voices. See what works well for you.
Overtime, increase your meditation time. See if you can find guided meditations that accommodate more silence. Then you can gradually move to unguided meditations.
And remember you don’t have to choose one or the other. Go back and forth. There are pros and cons to both. Why limit yourself to one option?
I hope you found this article informative and useful. Are you new to meditation or an experienced meditator? Let me know in the comments below.
Take care of yourselves,
Chris from Mindful Way to Be
