Guided Meditations: For Calmness, Awareness, and Love

I am so grateful that Bodhipaksa is living on this earth and that he has shared his wonderful knowledge and gifts through his work, especially in this cd. I don't even want to imagine the kind of life that I might be living today if I had not found this cd. I have experienced profound improvement in so many areas of my life because of it. It's a great cd for people who are new to meditation. It was one of my first guided meditation cds. I have been listening to it for over five years and I have noticed within myself decreased anxiety, increased pain management skills and increased focus, awareness and attention. After listening to it for a while I've been able to take these exercises with me into the real world. I am more able to slow down and breath if things in my life are getting very intense. I feel that this has enabled me to be less reactive and more responsive. I highly recommend this to anyone who would like to hush the little chattering monkey inside of their head so they can experience the quiet peacefulness that has been awaiting them patiently. It takes some time and practice, but this cd is a wonderful tool that can help you.

My spouse and I were looking for something to help us relax and refocus. I don't like gimmicks, bad music, or Americanized takes on meditation. This CD gives you several amazingly good meditations all with clear direction and no background distractions. Bodhipaksa is truly a gifted speaker. His voice is calm, soothing, and pulls you right in. I found myself being led to a healthier, much less stressed state. The meditations are relatively short, long enough to help you get centered. And, as with all things in life, the more you do them the better the meditations help you. I know in these troubled times, this helps me get to a stable footing. If you want to take a look at meditation, without the bells and whistles, this is the CD for you.

As other reviews have stated - it is just the guy's voice... he has a very faint accent (somewhat Irish, but again - very faint). His delivery is unhurried, and smooth. No background music is both good and bad: it's great because if done poorly that can really be distracting... but if done well it does help, and can also block out background noises a little too. This CD will work best if you're fortunate enough to have absolute silence to work with... which for many of us simply isn't the case. The breathing meditation is really good - you can really relax to it and he keeps your mind at rest nicely. The 2nd mdeitation is nice as well, and has some positive affirmations mixed in: a nice "feel good" meditation. the third is a "walking meditation"... I don't foresee using that one, but I do like the first two a lot, both in there own way are great.

Bodhipaksa's voice is soothing & calming. I started listening to this CD in 2005 & have used it almost daily since that time. In particular, I love the Metta Bhavana meditation. Although I already had an established mindfulness practice of 4 years, the Metta Bhavana guided meditation inspired me to add a conscious loving-kindness aspect to my practice. This was the beginning of a life-changing journey of achieving compassion for all beings which has enhanced my quality of life and my relationships. I was able to reconnect with my ex and we remarried after a 10-year split. Yes, he had made a lot of changes, but I would not have been able to open up to him if I had not had expanded compassion for him. Thank you, Bodhipaksa!

I liked it, it is helpful for a beginner or a person who has not yet mastered the art of mediation. Relaxing, it helps a new mediator develope an appreciate for what is to come with practise.

I have been a weekly volunteer yoga leader for a women's club for about three years. I always begin each session with a shavasana guided orally by me. I recommend this CD I purchased through Amazon to give the yoga leader a chance to listen to someone else's soothing voice. I have thus far only listened to the beginning portion which breaks just at a good time space for a short beginning meditation. I am sure the rest of the CD is adaptable for all kinds of meditation needs. The ladies all enjoyed the change - a calm male voice with appropriate relaxing meditation.

As a former Buddhist monk (Im a white guy however, so let any images of Kwai Chang Caine go) and a teacher of DBT, ACT and MBSR to clinicians. I Have found that as one meditates more and more and enters into the silence of the mind, one understands the value of silence. This Cd is leading actual traditional practices as taught in shravakayana Budhhism (hinayana to americans) and is led by someone who knows how to teach the practice in a way that helps the person to actually expand awareness and develop impulse control. It has no music in the backround just the voice of the guide interspersed with periods of silence. It follows the general method of annapranna, breath meditation. I highly reccomend this CD to clinicians who are looking for a non new agey guided practice that teaches Buddhist meditation in its original form. The guide is easy to understand and the CD also contains a meta bhavana practice (loving kindness) for clients that need help with self hatred and shame. One of the best I have sampled so far. I highly reccomend it.

I was a bit skeptical when I ordered this CD, but, after listening to it a few times, I'm happy I gave it a chance. I have been meditating for years (Vipassana, mantra meditations, etc.). This CD slows down my thoughts, and clears my head very quickly. As they say in Yoga: keep that beginner's mind. This CD is great for beginners but I also find it useful for those times when I want something external to help me focus. Perhaps, in years to come, I will be so adept in my meditation practice that this will be completely superfluous. For now, it's a little luxury, a healing voice to ease me into my my own peace.

I have been practising the Mindfulness of Breathing technique as taught in this CD for about 2 years having read about it in Paramananda's "Change Your Mind" book and taken a real liking to it. However at times I struggle to remain focused on the breathing and thought that at such times this guided version might suit me. So after two years I finally decided to buy it! The first 7'24" of Track 1 of the CD is a body relaxtion which I do not use: I don't like body relaxation techniques and I find 27' just a little too long for meditation. The remaining 20' of gentle, guided meditation helps me tremendously to relax and stay focused. I find Bodhipaksa's voice very soothing and whilst he is present to guide you through the 4 stages of the meditation, his presence is not intrusive or distracting. For the past two years I have tried to follow this technique as best I can with gentle meditation music despite music not being recommended. Having used this CD a couple of times I think I will try from now on to adopt a new routine of no music and just this CD as I find it so helpful. I realise now that the music really is distracting and I have enjoyed listening to the ambient sounds around me which I am normally unaware of. I can not comment on the other 2 tracks of Metta or Walking Meditation as I bought the CD solely to help me with the Mindfulness of Breathing and it does just that - very effectively. In my opinion this CD is money very well spent as it will guide you through a thoroughly useful and beneficial meditation technique and I don't think you can put a price on that.

Good to have the meditations on CD. The first is really good but the metta meditation would have benefitted from some more silence I feel.

it is a really nice and relaxing CD. there is no music, just a pleasant voice that guides you through the meditation and brings you back in case your mind wonders away.

Wasn't sure about this purchase as I have tried to meditate in the past and it didn't work. But this CD is brilliant. Instead of trying to clear your mind they use mindfulness. I find concentrating on my breathing relaxing. At first finding half an hour was hard but the results were instant. I slept properly for the first time in ages. Would definitely recommend this product.

The CD itself is amazing, really really fantastic, the only issue I had was the packaging, it came in a feeble cardboard sleeve and I felt I couldn't give it as a present as it seemed tacky and cheap even though it wasn't, it was quite expensive, it was a great cd but as it was so ugh I chose to return it, maybe there is another edition that has a decent sleeve/case to protect the CD disappointed as it looks like a newspaper freebie, kind of weird.