Favorite Meditations

I thought I’d take a minute to share my favorite meditations this week!

I know patients are often open to my meditation recommendations when I suggest starting with guided meditations. When I began taking a moment to tune in, or meditating, I started with guided meditation. Back then my therapist felt it wouldn’t help for me to start with unguided, or silent meditation and I get that now. I start patients who I serve with the same suggestion. I recommend spending a minute or two daily just getting in touch with your body in this moment or checking out a meditation app for a guided meditation. Once folks are up to five to 15 minutes I’d recommend one of these helpful meditations. They’re my favorite to suggest when noting and feeling anger or when a metta prayer/meditation is desired:

Dr. Dowtin’s anger meditation

Valerie Brown’s metta meditation

In addition I also love picking a morning focused or pain meditation when needed. There are several go-tos and new meditations I explore for mornings or pain relief.

I also have a few quick inner child meditations that are friendly for gender expansive folks. One of the meditations I provide that might serve gender expansive people is here:

Dr. J’s big feelings meditation

So if you’re feeling like trying a minute to check in with your body go ahead and give it a try. If you feel like trying a guided meditation without much pressure I’d start with one of the ones above. It’s a great place to connect and attune to what’s here in this moment. There’s so much research around how helpful meditation can be, but getting started doesn’t have to be a huge, rigid, set in stone commitment. Just a little minute here, right now ( :

You can casually give one of the above a try or tune in for a minute in your body if that feels okay for you. If checking in with your body is hard or dysphoric, you’re not alone and may benefit from a specific pain or gender expansive check in/meditation depending on what part of meditating is hardest for you. That means if you feel it fits give it a try. If not, then I believe you’re your own best doctor and I honor your intuition here. Wishing you a moment of checked-in”ness” from your own guidance.