A beginner’s guide to leading meditations

Deciding how you will guide meditations is your first big choice as a teacher - and an important one.

The most important rule?

Be yourself! You can decide what kind of teacher you’d like to be - authenticity is key. There’s no need to find a “meditation teacher voice” or to change the way you interact with your community.

In this guide, we’ll share some tips on preparing to guide meditations, how to greet your students and get them ready to meditate, which meditation to choose, and more.

How do I prepare for my meditation session?

Dina Kaplan (founder of The Path and head teacher for our Meditation Teacher Training course) helps you get ready to guide in the video below!

Okay, I'm ready. How do I start?

You can be warm, open, and approachable – chatting with students before a class & saying hi to everyone.

You can be quieter and a bit more strict. You can sit quietly in a room meditating as people file in, waiting for the meditation to begin.

It's generally best to sit with your back straight and your chin parallel to the ground, without being stiff or uncomfortable. You can have your legs crossed or feet flat on the ground (no crossed knees or ankles).

You can instruct people how to sit on a cushion - what's most important is elevating the hips above the legs (you can also do with a pillow, towel or cushion), and not to sit on or cross your feet so they avoid pins & needles!

What are some other teaching decisions I need to make?

• Eyes open or closed? You can give people the option to have their eyes open, a foot or two or three ahead of them, in a soft gaze, eyes half to two thirds shut - or to close their eyes. (Did you know that in Zen and Shambala meditation people keep their eyes open?)

• Spacing your words? It is easier for beginners to latch onto your voice & your words, while more advanced meditators will seek more space & less talking. You can find a happy medium and guide for both in the same session.

• Timing? Think carefully about how much time you have & what you want to accomplish in that time. Give yourself time to get into the meditation and out of the meditation, (around a minute or two at the beginning and end of the session). It’s often best not to do more than 3 techniques unless you have an hour or more.

Is there anything I should avoid?

Dina outlines some common mistakes new meditation teachers make below.

What about choosing a style of meditation?

You can choose a meditation in advance or feel the energy of a room. Different styles of meditation are can be best based on your environment. For example...

Mindfulness will help people focus and release stress — and bring them into the present moment.
Mindfulness of breath brings us to the present moment.
Mindfulness of sound is great for a noisy environment or sound-related interruption!
Mindfulness of thoughts and emotions is good for overwhelm or people feeling emotional, full of thoughts or feeling powerless.

Walking or any moving meditation is good if people seem restless.

Loving-kindness is great if people are going into an important meeting or conversation.

You can also combine techniques in one sitting. It's often nice to begin with a focus on the breath – it brings people into the present moment and calms the mind.

How about some examples?

Check out some helpful meditations from Dina below.

We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at sit@thepath.com if this guide was helpful for you, or click here to learn more about our next round of Meditation Teacher Training.

About The Path’s Meditation Teacher Training

The Path hosts one of the oldest and most respected Meditation Teacher Training programs (click here to learn more), and once you graduate from our program, you will be certified to teach Mindfulness and Compassion meditations in the U.S. and around the world. We have certified hundreds of students to teach meditation, many of whom are now teaching meditation both formally and informally for companies, individuals, and groups. There is no entity overseeing meditation teacher training programs, but this certificate will be widely respected and accepted both in the U.S. and around the world.

About The Path

The Path is meditation for the modern mind. Through retreats, weekly meditations, events with top teachers from around the world, and certificate meditation teacher training programs in Mindfulness, Compassion and Mindful Leadership. Since 2014 we have taught thousands of people to meditate around the world. We also host Mela, a curated retreat for global leaders. We believe meditation can be accessible and taught in beautiful, fun environments. We also host meditations for corporations and coordinate private meditation coaching for individuals.