Do you prefer to meditate on silence or do a guided meditation and why? Is it related to how long you’ve been meditating for?

I prefer guided or my mind wonders. Guided gives me something to focus on and keeps me away from any unhealthy thought patterns. The guided meditations also provide perspective I wouldn’t otherwise have had and act as a form of therapy for me. I’ve been using the Shine app for my daily meditation and sometimes search their extra features when I’m need of something more. I think silent meditation has its place if you have a quiet place to practice and you are just want to clear all your thoughts or you are able to guide your own self reflection. Both have their place. At this point in my life guided works best for me.

Thank you for asking, I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on this. When I was first introduced to meditation, I think I liked the guided sessions better. As the practice continues, I’m finding it beneficial to be in silence. Often, I like to see if I can hold a “state” of meditation for most of the day. It’s a challenge, but the spaces in between are magic. Thank you again for asking.

A guided meditation give me focus and a way of concentrating on the voice of the guide or guru. It is a fact that my mind wanders easily to the things I need to do for the day or think of a commitment I need to make when left alone.
Although moving slowly towards silent meditation would be my goal since it removes all types of dependency on any gadget. And so, after a few attempts of guided meditation, I prefer slowly to move towards silent meditation.

So far, I prefer guided meditation to silent. Why? Because I sometimes forget my intention to meditate and engage in mind-wandering. Guided meditation provides a nice prompt to return to the present moment, reminding me of my purpose. Perhaps this will change as I grow in my practice. I imagine it will. But for now, I must simply keep practicing and noticing.

At first it is easier to meditate with guidance. Then guiding voice becomes irritating and distracting. That’s why I prefer meditating in silence or with soft music in the background

I prefer a guided meditation as I feel I get distracted if I a man in silence. The sound give s me something to focus on. Also I find it quite soothing

It varies, if I have a focus like a scripture or sutra I'll meditate in silence. However my nightly meditation is a talk down to unwind &sleep

That depends on my intentions. If I want to have a specific theme, I like guided meditations. If I just want to calm my mind and practice my awareness, I meditate on silence or some focus at hand.

Since I am still new at meditating, I find it easier to use guided meditations. I meditate in the morning after I drink my water, and at night to help me get a deeper sleep.

I do a type of guided meditation. I created a playlist that begins and ends with a meditation bell. In between I do a mantra meditation based on the mantra “so ham” which translates as “ I am”. I am fairly new to meditation and it helps me to focus on my breath and bring myself back when my mind begins to wander. It is about 12 minutes long, but I hope to extend it or perhaps find another time later in the day to repeat it.

I prefer a guided meditation as it helps me from wandering off, falling asleep and most of all keeps me focussed on the present moment/mantra or space I wish to meditate in.
I do walking meditation in silence, walking at the beach or around my property, focussing on the feel of the ground and my feet.
I don’t think this has any relevance to how long I’ve been meditating for, it is simply what works for me…
Who knows, that may one day change

I prefer to meditate by a guidance, because I didn't know how people are meditating and what they'll do when there is a distraction. And yes also because of a guidance in meditation, I can do a little longer than usual.

I have just started meditating so for now I try to focus on the silence. I have not tried guided yet, but I did download some possibilities.

I prefer guided meditation, because it gives you some ideas on what to reflect, even if I had some experiences from month I rather stick with guided meditation than silence. Even I prefer a music background (no lyrics) than silence.

I prefer a guided meditation. I tend to feel it helps with staying focused and also how to keep the mind on the right path.

I like to do guided meditations, it helps me train my brain. Guided meditations help me to create space between my thoughts and actions, they teach me to be gentle with myself. I’ve only been doing this for almost 2 years.

I prefer both. I usually start with a short (5 min) guided from SBT (stop breathe, think) that will help me get in the zone. Then I’ll do a 10-20 min silent meditation. The amount of time you meditate and how is purely dependent upon how solid of a habit it is and the amount time spent. I would recommend starting slow with 2 mins and working up to one minute a day until you get to your goal. You can add more silent meditation as you add more time

It just depends on my mood but in all honesty I most likely listens to music when I meditate because is not about truly how you meditate but what you’re trying to focus on

It really depends. I like to mix it up based on what I need that day. Sometimes if my anxiety is ramped up or I'm particularly scattered mentally, I like a guided meditation approach because it's essentially as if someone is talking me down from my mental ledge and back into calm and reason. Total silence can be good sometimes, but my favorite way to meditate is with crystals and some soft music. I choose crystals based on their metaphysical properties or simply one that calls to me in the moment. Currently I'm to hold simultaneously onto tiger's eye, clear quartz and orange calcite. The tiger's eye and clear quartz are for grounding, focus, drive and mental clarity, and the orange calcite is for creativity and staying open to change.

I prefer a guided meditation, I have been meditating on and off for a few years, but this has been my most consistent practice so far.

I prefer to do a guided meditation and it is absolutely because I haven’t been meditating for very long and I don’t really feel confident enough to meditate by myself. The right guided meditation can feel very soothing to me and I feel relaxed enough that my mind can slip away – when I try to meditate myself, I sometimes struggle with playing “both roles,” so to speak: as though my brain has to do both the guiding role and the following role. However, I’d like to be better at self-meditating, because I’d like to be less dependent on having access to my phone and headphones in order to meditate.

I only recently started meditating more often for a calmer state of mind, but I have always preferred an audio guided meditation so I have someone to help me get into that calmer state of mind. A guide gives me instructions on how to properly meditate because if I'm not clear on what I'm doing, I enjoy someone telling me what to do. It also gives me a proper and healthy amount of time to meditate so I stay calm through out the day. I've been meditating regularly for a couple days now and I feel it has really had an impact on me and my mental health.

If i’m Stressed on not focused that day the guided meditation works better to me. When I feel inner calm already before silent meditation helps me to deepen that feeling.

I like guided meditations that are between 5 & 10 mins. I'd eventually like to be able to sit in silence & be just as focused as I would if I were listening to someone else, but tight now, my mind tends to wander, so guided is the right way for me to learn until I master this challenge. Thanks!

I prefer to meditate in silence but I am better at guided meditation. It is ok to wander but getting back into it is so hard.

na

I used to be a guided meditation person. I was interested in listening all the ideas and explanation. Now I prefer to practicing meditation with silence for better experience.