If you’ve been reading our many posts about meditation, you’ve probably seen the wonderful benefits and qualities of the practice. But if you’re like so many others, you not only want to read about the good fruit of meditation, you want to actually experience it. This is why we are making a post about resources for learning how to meditate.
What is a Christian meditation course? A Christian meditation course is either a curriculum of Christian meditations that are on a specific subject and/or a course designed to help Christians grow in their meditation journey. They can be both topical, educational, or both.
While meditating on your own from the start is doable, there are many skills that we can learn from others that will actually enhance our meditation experience. We can use meditation courses to learn from experts on meditation. Because let’s face it, no one is perfect at the start of anything. We all need practice. Consider these meditation courses as a coach to your meditation.
Why Christian Meditation Courses Are Helpful
Christians can use meditation courses to learn from the experts on the practice because let’s face it, no one is perfect at the start of anything. We all need practice. Consider these meditation courses as the coach and the practice to your daily meditation.
I would like to use the analogy of sports in comparison to meditation. If you want to become a really good tennis player, then you take the time to learn the game, you find a tennis coach, and you practice. It is the same way with meditation.
There is also a lot of wisdom and knowledge to be gleaned from others on this topic. If we can learn better ways to meditate from others, we will reap the benefits of their knowledge and practice. And don’t forget that taking a course will actually help you practice the discipline of meditation as you are learning.
What You Should Look For in a Course
When trying to choose a Christian meditation course, ask yourself these three things;
- Is it Christ-Centered?
- Does it seem helpful for your meditation journey?
- Is it worth the cost (if it costs money)?
When looking for a meditation course, it is best to foremostly identify whether or not it is a Christian site/establishment. There may be many meditation courses online, but they certainly are not all Christian, and this is also true about establishments of meditation This is an important question you must ask yourself because Christian meditation compared to any other type of meditation is drastically different.
Secondly, you should ask yourself whether or not the meditation would be helpful for your journey. This can be assed by whether or not it is too easy or too hard, whether you already know the knowledge or not, and whether you are interested in the subject and/or course instructor.
Lastly, you must consider whether or not the course is worth it monetarily. If the course is free, well then you are in luck because that is an easy answer. However, if it is not free, then really do your research into the course to assess its benefits for your life.
Now, you can look at the list below of Christian meditation courses. We have found these courses to help aid you in your meditation journey.
Christian Meditation Courses to Consider
1. The Be Still & Know – Christian Meditation Membership
The description for this course is: “Stop meditating at random. Move beyond your feelings and circumstances to create a consistent practice that addresses key areas of your life. The Be Still and Know Membership includes exclusive training audios and videos, guided meditations, courses, and healing tools to create more satisfaction with your life as well as your relationship with God.”
This meditation course is Christ-centered, and it would be helpful to many people’s mediation journeys. It does have a monthly fee, however with all of the instruction, modules, transformation, and focus on inner-healing, it should make a fine investment of both your time and money. Some of the modules for this course include Getting Started with Christian Meditation, Building a Spiritual Foundation, and Christian Meditation for Peace of Mind, but there are many to choose from.
A very unique, and beneficial component to this course is that there is accountability and community built within the course. This comes from the private Facebook group online, interactive online events, and a course instructor.
2. InsightTimer – Christian Meditation
InsightTimer is highly recommended for Christian meditation courses. This site has many meditations to choose from. You can choose to focus on any topic, and take your own course on that topic. The topics have a wide variety with over 200 to choose from, but some of them include managing depression, coping with anxiety, and resting in God.
When considering the three questions above, you’ll have to make sure that your meditation course is Christ-centered. Then after asking yourself if the course is worth the money, your mind will be put at ease to find out that all meditations on this site are free. However, there is an optional membership that costs $60 a year (or $5 per month), which unlocks many more meditations for you to use. Now you simply must consider whether or not the courses will be helpful for your meditation journey.
3. The School of Meditation
The School of Meditation has quite a few entry courses to choose from, making this source highly recommended. The courses are made specifically to help those who are new to Christian meditation. The courses include,
- How to Meditate
- An Introduction to Meditation
- Benedictine Wisdom Here and Now
- Building the Meditation Habit
The leader of these courses, John Main OSB, considers the topics to be fundamental in order to understand Christian meditation. Not only will this course help you to understand the subject of meditation, but it will also help you to make meditation a regular practice.
In the silence of meditation, when you go beyond thought and imagination, you begin to understand that being is what life is about. In meditation you are learning to be. To be is to live as the person you are, without trying to justify your existence or make excuses for your personality… The wonder of it is that the more simple you become, the more you are able to enjoy to the full the gift of your being.
— John Main, OSB
An Introduction to Meditation course teaches, “the story of how meditation was rediscovered within the Christian tradition as a form of contemplative prayer and how it is practiced by many Christians around the world.” This means that the course will cover all major topics of the subject. Some of the major topics that are covered include; “what is Christian meditation?”, “Rediscovering the Tradition”, and “Ways of Prayer.”
It may be important to know that nearly every course has a cost, except for “How to Meditate” and “Building the Meditation Habitat.” The prices vary in euros, but typically they are affordable. There is also a meditation retreat called “Who Do You Say I Am” for 40 euros.
This is an online retreat, and its description is, “the online retreat has been prepared to help you spend quality time in the most fundamental relationship of your life, your relationship with God. In the ground of this relationship are planted all your human relationships, even your relationship with yourself.”