GUIDED MEDITATIONS

OVERVIEW

Scroll down for secular meditations that Raphael shares.

The practices are recorded also in a way that is accessible and supports a person coming to the website for the first time, with no experience of secular meditation. Therefore each meditation stands alone with an introduction, and some necessary repetition in the guidance. Repetition can also be useful for experienced practitioners.

Donations are most welcome

About Raphael’s Way of Meditation

Raphael practices and teaches secular meditation as an existential voyage of self-discovery.

Raphael creates personalized meditation pathways for individuals, with customized guided practices to support individual needs.

Message Raphael to arrange

Raphael also leads retreats and intensives for groups by organizational invitation, including awakening and healing centers. Raphael teaches online and in-person. These meditation-based programs include:

• BEYOND ECSTATIC art as meditation

• FULL CATASTROPHE DANCING: dance as deep ecological meditation responding to ecological and other crises

• MIND FLOW YOGA: yoga as meditation and dance

• BLUE KIND: deep ecology as meditation in the ocean, focusing on loving kindness and compassion meditations

Message Raphael to arrange

Raphael is also a qualified teacher / trainer of teachers of internationally recognised, scientifically evidenced Mindfulness-based programs for:

• MSC: Mindful Self-Compassion

  8-wk course, 17 hrs

• LOMSC Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion

  10-wk course, 21 hrs

  next course in July 2025

• SC-MSC Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion

  6-wk course, 6 hrs

• MBCT-L Mindfulness for Life

  8-wk course, 21 hrs

  next course in September 2025

• MBCT Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy

  8-wk course, 21 hrs

• MBSR Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction 8-wk course

  8-wk course, 21 hrs

• Radsec Radical Self-Care: evidenced to be supportive of LGBTQ+

  8-wk course, 16 hrs

• MfH Breathworks’ Mindfulness for Health 8-wk course

  8-wk course, 21 hrs

• MfS. Breathworks’ Mindfulness for Stress 8-wk course

  8-wk course, 21 hrs

These rigorously crafted programs cultivate:

• Personal transformation

• Attainment of life goals

• Living in tune with one’s personal core values and needs

• Stress, anxiety and low mood managment

• Better overall mental and physical health

• Motivation

• Working with challenging emotions such as “shame”

• Cultivating a less harsh inner critical voice

• Greater sense of identity, connection and belonging

Join Raphael’s next program in Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion for the Center for Mindful Self Compassion, USA, starting July 24, 2025

Join Raphael’s next programs in Mindfulness for Life, beginning Saturday September 6, 2025

Message Raphael if your organization wishes to book a program or have a tailored program constructed for you

It should be understood:

• These guided meditations invite us to open to and embrace all our experiences, including challenging feelings. Initially this can cause mild stress but this usually reduces significantly below normal levels, through following an entire program, such as ones listed above

• If the stress or other challenging feelings become more intense and overwhelming, please stop and consult with a qualified medical professional.

• The guided practices are not necessarily effective for all people at any given moment and situation of their life. For some people such practices are “contraindicated”: they are not advised, or are advised only when working individually with a qualified and experienced therapist.

• The links to the practices below should not be used to replace any existing mental or physical health treatment.

If you have any questions about the suitability of mindfulness and compassion based practices, please consult with your health professional.

I freely share here Mindfulness and Compassion based Meditation practices that are evidenced to be helpful for many mental health conditions, as well as wider existential life exploration

If you enjoy these guided meditations, a donation of any amount is deeply appreciated. This supports me to

• create new free meditations

• offer free workshops

• make my therapy and teaching more affordable and accessible.

GUIDED PRACTICES OF PROGRAMS IN

MINDFUL SELF-COMPASSION

LIVE ONLINE MINDFUL SELF-COMPASSION

SHORT COURSE IN MINDFUL SELF-COMPASSION

You can access some of Raphael’s guided practices below.

Most of the recordings support the International recognized, evidence-based LOMSC Live Online Mindful-Self Compassion 10-wk program Raphael teach for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (USA) as well as other courses in MSC Mindful Self Compassion. These can be utilized to support your practice during and after a course.

Join Raphael’s next program in Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion for the Center for Mindful Self Compassion, USA, starting July 24, 2025

For details of this and other meditation-based programs go to Raphael’s

MEDITATION page.

Raphael can also work with you one-to-one to support you to develop your Mindful Self-Compassion practice, and record customized guided practices to support individual needs.

ARRIVAL PRACTICE FOR LOMSC AND MSC PROGRAMS

THE 3 CORE MSC GUIDED PRACTICES:

4 OTHER FORMAL MSC GUIDED PRACTICES:

THERE ARE CURRENTLY 20 INFORMAL MSC PRACTICES INCLUDING:

GUIDED PRACTICES FOR PROGRAMS IN

MINDFULNESS FOR LIFE

MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY

MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION

THE 3-STEP BREATHING SPACE

Duration: 5min approx.

THE 3-STEP BREATHING SPACE provides a swift effective way to step out of Automatic Pilot and reconnect with the present. It can be a useful circuit breaker to a cycle of negative thoughts, stress or other challenging moods

Each time we do a breathing space we become aware of the breath and our wider experience. Once you have learned the 3 stages you can expand or shorten them in any given meditation and situation, according to your need.

THE BODY SCAN MEDITATION

The “Body Scan” guided practice. The “Body Scan” is one of the core guided practices of a program called Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR); as well as being core to other Mindfulness programs such as Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): the Breathworks courses, Mindfulness for Stress (MFS) and Mindfulness for Health (MfH); and Radical Self-Care (Radsec)

Duration: 30min approx.

GUIDED MEDITATIONS FROM RAPHAEL’S

MEDITATION PROGRAMS, RETREATS

AND INTENSIVES

SAVORING THE SPECIAL

Savoring, as understood through scientific research, has significant health benefits. Savouring is our capacity to give more space dwell in the joys, pleasures, and other positive feelings that we experience in our lives. 

Savoring can lead to higher life satisfaction, regardless of a person’s level of physical health, improved self-esteem, strengthening of relationships,  improved creativity when problem-solving.

This is practice, particularly draws on the research of neuropsychologist Rick Hanson who has developed a model and practice called “Take in the Good”. I have adapted this in a way that works for me, using words that resonate for me.

NAKA-MA DEEP ECOLOGY MEDITATION

Naka-Ma is a meditation of deep ecology which helps us better understand a non-human centered understanding of being through the biopsychosocial inter-relationship body, brain, social, and natural world.

Naka-Ma are Japanese characters which literally mean relationship-space.

I can work with you one-to-one to support you to develop your practice, and record customized guided practices to support individual needs. Please email me if you require this.

I freely share here Mindfulness and Compassion based Meditation practices that are evidenced to be helpful for many mental health conditions, as well as wider existential life exploration

If you enjoy these guided meditations, a donation of any amount is deeply appreciated. This supports me to

• create new free meditations

• offer free workshops

• make my therapy and teaching more affordable and accessible