Meditation

      As defined by Webster's dictionary, meditation is the act of deep thought or to plan mentally. This description implies that meditation is a solitary act that requires the ability to focus and concentrate inward; meditation can also be called a trance. In Eastern thought or in the course of therapy, meditation is the process of focusing inward on yourself to quiet the body and the mind. In psychology we call an over-active mind, a mind that has repetitive racing thoughts;  in Eastern thought, it is called a monkey brain. There are many forms of meditation to slow down the racing monkey mind. The common variant where you focus in on a mantra, which is repeating a word or words, was called Transcendental Meditation ™ in the 1970’s. TM stimulated a great deal of research that documented the many benefits of meditating and started America meditating. Back then it was taught for free; today it costs thousands of dollars to learn. Mindfulness meditation, which is very popular today, focuses on the breath while allowing your thoughts to come in and out of your mind with awareness, acceptance and no judgment. This teaches you to slow down the mind, and sit with thoughts while breaking habitual negative reactions.

Guided Meditation

      In guided meditation another person guides you through the meditation process, which produces a trance. Having a guide helps you learn meditation more easily and quickly. The guide keeps your motivation going through the repetitions necessary to learn to quiet the mind. Focusing in on a story or a series of concepts told to you keeps your racing monkey mind busy while furthering the effort to quiet the mind. This makes you feel more comfortable. The resulting state is a trance. Extensive research has shown that the mind and the body functions and more efficiently in this state.

Active Guided Meditation

      In what I call active guided meditation, the guided meditation evolves into a more complex and personalized trance.  From my long experience with trance work I have found that it is very important that the person is stimulated to action beyond the guided meditation. I guide you into a meditative state with a myriad of methods (most common are focusing in on the breath or systematically relaxing the body) where you're able to slow your mind down, focus inward on your thoughts and feelings, relax your body, and accept individually tailored ideas to help you. If you suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, pain, to name just a few, and I’ve gotten to know you in a session or two, I know what to say to alleviate these conditions. These custom made suggestions will lead you to take the action needed to assist you in your life to feel and be better. When guiding you, I will create effective ideas because of my 30 years of doing trance work, my 25 years experience of being a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, and over a thousand hours of post-doctoral training in psychology, meditation and hypnosis.

 What is active guided meditation used for.

      In the mental health area, active guide meditation is used for phobias, anxiety, sexual problems, alcoholism, smoking control, speech disorders, weight control, chronic pain, age regression therapy, self-esteem/ego strengthening, memory/concentration improvement and forensic work. In medicine, some uses would be for anesthesia and surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, control of bleeding, pain control, burn therapy, dermatology and habit control. Dentistry uses it to control fear, dental surgery, saliva control, gagging, bruxism, control of bleeding, tongue biting, and general oral hygiene.

     Moreover, in clinical situations, active guided meditation becomes an extension of the existing doctor/patient relationship. Formalized, structured techniques for active guided meditation are useful, although not essential, since they give both the doctor and the patient the opportunity to realize that something different is happening. This makes it simpler to establish and utilize the clinical trance state. 

      Dr. Albina individualizes the trance to fit each of her unique patients. The trance is usually done after 2 to 6 individual sessions. Rather than repeat a trance, she records it and gives out a CD. The recording saves the patient money of repeating the trance sessions. Dr. Albina has conducted research, which proves that a recording is just as effective as a live active guided meditation.