On this episode: “Guided Meditation Special: Part One – What is guided meditation?”

Ben and Kirsty are re-joined by Carole Chance from the Service Users Group (SUC’s) for a very special podcast! Carole has an interest in spirituality, crystals and gives us an amazing experience of guided meditation!

In this special three-part podcast, we start by exploring what guided meditation is and how Carole came about it, followed by a LIVE guided meditation from Carole in part two, and end with reflections from both Ben and Kirsty on the whole experience.

We wanted the guided meditation to be a standalone episode so that listeners could replay it as much as they wanted, and we have created a Microsoft Teams form if you are happy to share your reflections! These will be kept anonymous if you wish but read out on a future podcast if you state that you are happy to do so!    

Web links from the show: (correct at time of recording)

 Defining Meditation – Sparby & Sacchet (2022) ·        

• Meditative activities are unified in awareness of awareness.
• Can be observing, producing or being aware.
• Some meditation techniques have led to structural differences in the brain. 

Mindfulness therapy in acromegaly – Santos et al., 2023

• RCT with 60 participants
• Intervention group – followed a mindfulness-based stress reduction program
• Control group – followed normal clinical routine
• Found reduced pain in the intervention group, improved sleep, improved self-compassion.
• Concluded that mindfulness could be valuable for patients with acromegaly   

Effects of guided mindfulness meditation on anxiety and stress in healthcare – Burgstahler & Stenson (2019)

• Study examining the stress levels of pre-healthcare students.
• Intervention included 5-12 minutes of meditation 6 days a week for 8 weeks
• 5-12 minutes of daily mindfulness meditation is associated with decreased stress, anxiety and increased mindfulness.
• Greater changes were seen following increased minutes of meditation.    

Wellbeing/Mental Health Support Contacts:

If you are a student or staff member at Staffordshire University and have been affected by any of the topics that have been discussed in this podcast, don’t struggle alone, Staffordshire University are here to help…

Contact Wellbeing Support on 01782 294976 or by emailing studentwellbeing@staffs.ac.uk.



For external listeners, mental health crisis lines and suicide prevention contacts can be found below. Please reach out if you feel you need to!

NHS Mental Health Services - https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/

Mind Support and Services - https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/where-to-start/

Samaritans Contact - https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

Upcoming Podcasts: Death within other religions, Human factors and ergonomics, Insights into acromegaly, and a special Halloween episode!

Previous Podcasts:
Race, Transgender, Neurodiversity, Impacts of trauma, Mature student experiences, Transition from student to healthcare professional, and also specialised areas such as mental health and organ transplant teams.

Want to get involved?
Are you a student? Member of staff? A Healthcare worker?

 Do you have a topic you would like to share?

 Get in touch! Let’s Pod!

Contact The Link Podcast team:
@TheLinkPodcast_ on X (formally Twitter)

  Ben W-H - @benw_h on X
                     ben.woodrow-hirst@staffs.ac.uk

Kirsty Egan - @KirstyODP on X
                         kirsty.egan@student.staffs.ac.uk

Hosted by: Ben Woodrow-Hirst
 Produced & Edited by: Ben Woodrow-Hirst & Kirsty Egan
 Artwork: Shaun Kelly
 Theme Music: Gavin Samways