When looking to use a guided meditation script, there are a few things you can use to give it a real advantage. It doesn’t have to be much, but a few minutes of extra effort can make a big difference in effectiveness.

Let’s step back for a moment and remember that the idea is to make the receiver (or meditator) focus on the meditation, not anything or everything else. By providing a good environment, you not only avoid distractions, but you can also enhance and reinforce the effectiveness of your guided meditation script.

Let’s start with the music. While working with meditation in silence can work, I find that it tends to work best with some soft music in the background. I have some rules that I use when I select that music:

• It has to be free of lyrics (instrumental only, or sometimes vocals without words)
• It has to be non-invasive. You can’t be too lively or “busy.” It should be soft and tender.
• Last but not least, it should be as unstructured as possible. Think of music as a winding road that never seems to go anywhere, but has nice scenery. That is the music we want as the background for your guided meditation script.

If you want to be creative, you can select music with properties that complement meditation. For example, if you have a meditation that uses images of the beach, you can include music that uses ocean waves. Alternatively, if you’re going to be in the mountains or in the woods, a recording of forest sounds (as long as it’s not too distracting/busy) will be ideal.

Remember, we are trying to make the environment as relaxing and safe as possible for your guided meditation script to really work. Make sure the room isn’t too hot or cold, and you might consider putting a scent in the air.

There are many different ways to add a scent to the air. You can use sprays, candles, heated essential oil, incense, or any combination of the above to get your desired effect. As with the background noise, I have a few guidelines to offer here:

• Make it nice and accessible. Those of us used to incense can handle more exotic scents, but you want the focus to be determined by what’s in your guided meditation script, not teary-eyed and coughing. On the same note, don’t overdo it. A little goes a long way.
• Avoid artificial scents. It may be less expensive, but too often the scent ends up cloying rather than relaxing. Again, we want to focus attention inward.
• Match the type of odor to the individual. If they react to incense (and some people do), use candles or warm some essential oils.

When you put all this together, the meditator relaxes almost instantly, and your guided meditation script is much more effective. There’s a bit of art to this, so keep testing and see what works best for you.