Three Learning Style Meditation

A meditation that focuses on three learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. It is centered around a hike to a mountain lake. Some movement, such as marching on the spot. Sounds of nature and voice to guide through the practice.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Dr.

Brett Wade.

Thank you for joining me in this guided meditation where we will be celebrating all three learning styles.

If you don't know your primary learning style,

I would recommend finding a free three-type learning style test on the internet.

Most of these tests ask around 20 to 30 questions to determine whether you're a visual,

Auditory,

Or kinesthetic learner.

Recent research has found that approximately 65% of the population are visual learners.

Auditory learners make up about 30% of the population,

And the smallest percentage,

5%,

Are kinesthetic learners who learn best by moving or having movement in their bodies during a meditation.

The reason I've come up with this three learning styles meditation is because I am well aware that during any guided meditation,

Some people easily visualize the scenes I'm describing and others find it challenging.

Some people prefer to follow the words or listen to background sounds or music,

And still others will experience a deeper,

More profound meditation when they move their body,

Such as in a walking meditation or perhaps during a yoga practice.

This meditation will celebrate all three learning styles.

For this meditation,

We will be starting with a visual style of guided meditation,

Then moving into auditory,

And lastly a kinesthetic part.

The scene or location of this meditation will be the same for all three styles.

It'll be a hike into a mountain lake.

If you don't know your learning style,

Or even if you do,

It might be interesting to see which of the three parts of this meditation you find most easily or natural to follow.

This information may help you decide for future meditations which type of meditation suits you best.

If you're ready,

Let's begin.

This meditation is approximately 15 minutes long from this point.

I recommend sitting for this practice,

Since part of this meditation will also involve standing and some marching on the spot.

You may wish to have a chair nearby for balance.

Start by finding some symmetry in your body.

Match your hands by either interlacing your fingers or perhaps having them just resting on your lap.

You may also prefer to take some mudra or hand position.

Do the same with your legs and feet.

This might be sitting cross-legged or sitting on a chair with your feet just comfortably resting on the floor.

Just find symmetry in your upper and lower body between your right and left sides.

Try to align the natural curves of your spine so that there's a natural inwards curve in your low back and a similar inwards curve in your neck.

It should feel as if your head is floating on top of your neck.

Now begin to close your eyes or have a defocused downwards gaze.

Bring your attention inwards.

To do this,

Start by following the sensations of breath at your nostrils.

Notice how air flows easily in and out right at the opening of your nostrils,

And see if you can detect this on your upper lip.

It is subtle,

But you may notice that the breath which you exhale is slightly warmer on your upper lip compared with the breath in which you inhale.

Try to notice that for a couple of breaths.

As you follow your breath deeper into your body,

Bring the breath all the way down into your belly.

Allow each breath that you bring into your belly to bring you into a deeper state of concentration.

With each inhale,

Notice your belly slightly protrudes,

And as you exhale,

Just notice that it naturally comes back inwards,

Each breath deepening your concentration.

Now,

Starting with the visual system,

This type of meditation will be intending to stimulate images in your mind based on words.

You may find this easy and natural,

Or you may find it challenging.

If the image or scenery doesn't come to you easily or not at all,

That's fine.

Just follow the words and keep focusing on the breathing right at your belly.

Let's begin.

I'd like to take you on a beautiful alpine mountain hike.

You have on your favorite hiking boots or your trainers,

A small backpack,

And some light clothing.

It's a beautiful day,

And mid-morning as we set out along this well-traveled path,

Which is following a stream.

As you walk along the path,

You notice that there are many roots crossing the path from the large bordering fir and pine trees on either side.

The sides of the path contain many small,

Colorful little mountain flowers.

Notice the pretty little red and yellow flowers.

The path is hard-packed.

There are some areas of moisture on the trail,

Where a small stream following the trail spills its banks occasionally.

The grade of the trail is not too steep,

So you find hiking is not too difficult.

We've been hiking for about an hour now,

And when you look up ahead,

You see that the pathway is beginning to open,

An opening through the forest,

And coming into focus off in the distance,

You begin to see some large,

Jagged peak mountains.

As we get closer and come out of the path,

You notice the most beautiful mountain lake in front of you.

It is surrounded by these snow-capped mountains on all sides.

As you walk closer to the shore of the lake,

You see that it is the most amazing crystal clear aquamarine color.

And right at the edge of the lake,

You also see a stump from a fallen tree nearby.

And as if to get a better view,

See yourself climbing up on top of that stump.

And as you get up on top of the stump,

See yourself gazing across the water.

The water is so clear,

You can see right to the bottom everywhere you look.

The bottom of the lake is sandy and covered with decaying trees that have fallen in over time,

Resting on the bottom.

And on the surface of this beautiful lake,

You can make out some lily pads,

Little resting spots for frogs.

Feeling at peace and wanting to stay a little bit longer,

You decide to take a seat on that stump.

It's perfectly comfortable.

And you take the seated position which suits you best.

Maybe it looks like how you're sitting right now.

Looking around the lake,

You can notice large boulders which taper to smaller rocks.

And then finally a small beach all the way around the lake.

And at the far end of the lake,

You can make out a rushing creek,

Which has been formed by the melting snow high up in the surrounding mountains.

Looking at those surrounding mountains,

In fact,

You can see valleys and crevasses created by millions of years of melting snow and runoff.

High up above the mountaintops,

Notice the color of the sky.

It's a beautiful deep blue with whispering clouds that are being just stretched out by gentle breezes.

You can also faintly make out some birds soaring high up in the sky,

Just soaring in the winds.

They clearly are circling above this lake looking for some fish.

We're now going to tune into your auditory system and your olfactory system to see your sense of smell.

You begin to notice the sounds of breezes as they make as the winds just gently rustle the branches of the fir and pine trees in the surrounding forest.

Carried on this breeze,

In fact,

Is a beautiful smell of fir and pine trees.

Perhaps smells like Christmas trees.

Still seated on that same tree stump with your eyes closed,

You can hear the happy sounds of songbirds all around the lake.

And as you listen carefully,

You can also make out the sound of that rushing creek we were looking at at the far end of the lake.

Turning back into the sounds at the lake,

You can hear the sound of the occasional trout jumping out to catch an insect as it splashes back into the water.

After spending some time seated in this quiet meditation,

Listening to nature's beautiful melodies,

We decide it's time to come down off the stump and make our way back down the path,

Beginning this journey back home.

We're now going to be tuning into your kinesthetic learning style.

See yourself coming off of that stump.

In fact,

To make this really kinesthetic,

Try to come to a standing position now,

Actually coming to standing.

You may need to open your eyes to safely do this.

To come up into that standing position,

Bring your hands into a prayer position,

Extending your thumbs and pressing them into your sternum or your breastbone,

Just gently.

And as you do that,

Perhaps just bowing your head slightly as you look out and cross the lake.

Just a sign of gratitude for this wonderful day,

Wonderful hike.

Let's just stay here for a couple of breaths,

Maintaining this prayer position in your hands,

In the standing position.

With each inhalation,

Once again,

Just noticing your belly protruding.

With each exhalation,

Just noticing it coming back.

Now we're about to start hiking back down the pathway that took us up to this wonderful lake.

And it's a gesture that we're going to be,

In fact,

Walking,

Really marching on the spot.

So if that's available to you,

You might use a chair if you have it available for balance,

Or if your balance feels fine,

You can begin just a gentle marching on the spot.

And noticing that this marching is taking us closer to the opening,

Back into the forest.

You start to see that pathway in front of us,

That beautiful hard-packed pathway with the roots crossing it,

And the gentle stream along the side.

Just before we go any further down the pathway,

Let's just turn around and take one final look at the lake and the mountains.

We're just turning 180 degrees.

See if you can do that now,

Just gently.

Again,

You may need to open your eyes.

And just as you're gazing out at that beautiful scenery,

Once again,

Bring your hands together into a prayer position.

And just gratitude for this wonderful day,

This wonderful hike that we've been on.

Let's take a couple of breaths here.

Each inhalation,

Just notice the belly protruding a little bit.

Each exhalation,

Just the belly coming up.

If your balance feels okay,

You can close your eyes here.

If you feel a little unsteady,

That's totally fine.

You can just open your eyes.

Perhaps just looking straight down at the ground,

Or a spot in front of you.

Now,

Wanting to resume our walk back down the pathway,

Just have your hands come to your side.

Turning once again 180 degrees,

Facing that pathway in front of us,

And we'll resume that gentle marching on the spot,

Signifying that we're walking down the pathway.

It's a little bit easier now as we follow that stream walking down the pathway.

We're just so satisfied with this day.

Notice the corners of your mouth begin to rise up slightly.

Just bring a little smile to your face.

Gently marching on the spot,

And it's this symbolism to walking down the pathway.

As we continue to walk down this pathway,

We're just tempted by the beautiful stream beside us.

This crystal clear,

Very pure stream.

Let's just see if we can take a drink of that water.

If it's available to you,

Just crouching down and taking your hands,

Both your hands,

And forming a bowl.

Taking some of that water out of the stream,

And bringing it up to your lips and taking a drink.

It's the most refreshing water you've ever tasted.

If squatting down isn't available to you,

That's just fine.

Just bring your hands together,

Again like a bowl,

Filling them to your mouth,

And just tasting this beautiful water from that stream.

It's very pure,

It's very safe,

It's refreshing and cool.

Now let's begin to resume our walk back down the pathway.

Marching on the spot again.

This is just again our symbolism that we're walking down the pathway.

These kinesthetic movements are just helping reinforce this walk,

This beautiful hike back down to where we started today.

As we walk further along the pathway,

Time has passed,

And we've been having a wonderful conversation.

Really enjoying this time,

The perfect weather,

And this perfect day.

We start to see the trail just where we started.

In fact,

We can even see our footprints from where we started this hike today.

As we reach the end of this trail and conclude our hike together,

I'm going to take my hands and again bring them into this position,

Or this prayer position of gratitude.

As I face you,

Bow my head to you,

And I say to you Namaste.

Namaste,

My friend.

Which is to say that the spirit in me recognizes the spirit in you.

Until we meet again.

I hope you've enjoyed this three learning style meditation.

And perhaps it might have revealed to you which type of meditation suits you best.

Is it a visual style,

An auditory style,

Or something with a little bit of body movement?

As you fully bring yourself back to your time and space coming completely out of this meditation.

I just want to invite you to check out other meditations that I have on this site.

Until next time,

I wish you well,

Good health on your journey.

Peacefully,

Brett.