Recently, a potential client asked me why meditation is considered important for both the PLR therapist and the client. What stayed with me was that she didn’t just question it—she brought up Dr. Brian Weiss’s work and presented a very solid point: his client Catherine, was able to enter remarkably deep trance states without meditation. I have to admit, her argument unsettled me a little. Not because I have stopped believing in meditation. I personally value meditation and believe it can profoundly develop presence, awareness, emotional regulation, inner stillness, and the ability to remain grounded. I still see those qualities as extremely valuable for a PLR therapist. What I began questioning, however, is whether valuing meditation is the same as saying it’s crucial for plrt? May be, I had unconsciously blurred those two ideas. If a client can access a profound trance state without a meditation practice, ( which I experienced in the past with 2 of my clients ) then perhaps meditation is not a requirement for regression itself, but rather one possible path to developing the qualities that can support the process. And if that is true for the client, do we also need to reconsider whether meditation is an absolute requirement for the therapist? Her question made me look inward and ask whether I was defending something I genuinely understood, or something I had simply come to believe because it is commonly emphasized in this field. I still believe in the value of meditation—but I’m now more careful about calling it essential. Maybe there is a difference between something that makes us better prepared for the work and something without which the work cannot happen?
Harmeet Ji, your reflection really made me pause and think.
I particularly liked the distinction you have brought out between something being valuable and something being essential. शायद यही distinction इस पूरे discussion की सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बात है।
Meditation can certainly cultivate presence, awareness, inner stillness and emotional regulation. But as you rightly made me reflect, does that automatically mean that meditation is a prerequisite for regression itself?
The example of Catherine, along with your own observations, makes this question even more interesting. It also made me think that perhaps the capacity to enter trance and the capacity of the therapist to hold the space are two different things.
For the client, meditation may not necessarily be required to access a deep trance. But for the therapist, perhaps its value lies more in developing the ability to remain grounded, present and non-reactive while holding another person’s intense inner experience.
मेरे लिए शायद यही फर्क महत्वपूर्ण है — “necessary for regression” and “supportive for the practitioner” may not be the same thing.
And this reflection does not reduce the importance of meditation for me. Rather, it makes me look at it with a little more nuance.
Maybe the better question is not “Is meditation essential for PLRT?” but:
“What qualities does meditation cultivate that make us better prepared for PLRT—and can those qualities also be developed through other pathways?”
Thank you, Harmeet Ji, for raising a question that made me look at something I had perhaps accepted a little too readily. सोचने के लिए एक बहुत सुंदर प्रश्न। 
@satishsinghthakur Thats indeed a good question.In my opinion/experience mindfulness being a way of life is one of the pathway that can help.Mindfulness as i have understood is a combination of focus,acknowledgement of present reality by being in the moment, without being judgemental.
@satishsinghthakur beautiful question!
@sarandha beautifully explained!
I like to add that, I really connect with the idea of mindfulness as a way of life. For me, it is about slowing down enough to be present with what is happening, and being able to acknowledge it without immediately judging or reacting. I still have my slip ups but I’m getting better. It brings a little more awareness to how I think, feel, and respond. I also feel that being true to ourselves doesn’t mean we can disregard the space of others. We all have the freedom to make our own choices, but that freedom naturally comes with a respect for the choices and boundaries of those around us. I feel, For me- that balance- being fully ourselves while still being mindful of how we affect others is when real awareness begins.
Awareness की असली परीक्षा शायद meditation में नहीं, relationship में होती है। 
Thank you, Harmeet Ji. Your point about being fully ourselves while remaining mindful of how we affect others really stayed with me.
शायद mindfulness की अगली परत यहीं से शुरू होती है—मैं क्या महसूस कर रहा हूँ, यह जानना awareness है; लेकिन उस awareness के साथ मैं क्या करता हूँ, शायद वही maturity है।
PLRT के संदर्भ में भी मुझे यह बहुत relevant लगता है. A therapist may be deeply aware of the client’s emotions, but the real skill may lie in not reacting to them, not interpreting them too quickly, and not crossing the client’s boundaries while holding the therapeutic space.
और शायद यही वजह है कि mindfulness को केवल “being in the present” कहना थोड़ा अधूरा लगता है।
Present होना, बिना judgement के देखना, प्रतिक्रिया और response के बीच space बनाना, और उस space में दूसरे की autonomy का सम्मान करना—शायद यह mindfulness का lived form है।
आपने बहुत सुंदर बात कही—“being true to ourselves while still being mindful of how we affect others.”
शायद यही self-awareness से relational awareness की यात्रा है।
और शायद therapist के लिए यही सबसे महत्वपूर्ण practice है—
“मैं client के अनुभव में उपस्थित रहूँ, लेकिन उसके अनुभव का मालिक न बनूँ।”
बहुत सुंदर addition to the discussion.
ध्यान से आगे — एक और महत्वपूर्ण दृष्टि
Thank you, Dr. Sarandha Ji. I completely resonate with your perspective that mindfulness can become a way of life, rather than remaining merely a meditation technique.
आपने mindfulness को जिस तरह focus, present-moment awareness और non-judgemental acknowledgement के रूप में रखा, उसमें मुझे PLRT के लिए एक बहुत महत्वपूर्ण connection दिखाई देता है।
शायद PLRT में therapist के लिए meditation की सबसे बड़ी उपयोगिता “deep relaxation” से भी आगे है—अपने भीतर उठ रहे thoughts, emotions, assumptions और impulses को observe करना, बिना तुरंत उनके साथ identify हुए।
क्योंकि अगर therapist स्वयं अपने internal process को observe नहीं कर पा रहा है, तो client की experience को बिना अपनी interpretation मिलाए hold करना मुश्किल हो सकता है।
इस अर्थ में शायद meditation एक method है, लेकिन mindfulness उसका lived state बन सकता है।
और यहीं आपका दूसरा point मेरे लिए interesting है—क्या यह quality meditation के अलावा भी विकसित हो सकती है? शायद हाँ। Walking, mindful listening, breath awareness, Tai Chi, या रोज़मर्रा के किसी भी काम को पूरी awareness से करना भी उसी दिशा में ले जा सकता है।
शायद सवाल “Meditation करना है या नहीं?” से थोड़ा आगे जाकर यह होना चाहिए—
“क्या मैं अपने जीवन में अधिक consciously present होना सीख रहा हूँ?”
Thank you for adding this perspective to the discussion,.
You explained it perfectly Satish Ji! These 2 are the only aspects of this whole situation. If we follow em truly then जंग जीत ली! जानना और जीना! Awareness and making it a lifestyle.
Hello Harmeet ji
This was a very thought-provoking read. I really appreciated the way you have questioned your own assumption rather than simply defending what is commonly taught.
I personally feel there may be a subtle distinction between meditation as a practice and the meditative quality of being. A person may not formally meditate every day and yet may naturally have presence, stillness, receptivity and the ability to remain deeply connected with their inner experience. At the same time, meditation can be a beautiful way of consciously cultivating these qualities.
So perhaps meditation may not be essential for entering trance, but the qualities that meditation develops can be extremely valuable for both the client and, even more importantly, the therapist.
For me, the therapist’s ability to remain present, non-judgmental, grounded and free from the need to lead the experience may be more important than whether they have a particular meditation practice.
And I loved the question at the heart of your post:
Are we holding something because we have experienced its value, or because we have been taught that it is essential?
Perhaps questioning even our own deeply held beliefs is itself a form of meditation, an invitation to observe without immediately concluding.
Thank you for bringing such an important question to the forum.
So truly said! Meditation is a way of life for me, but for a long time, it was more like on/off! But now I’m a hardcore devotee! Initially it seemed like mechanical but I didn’t give up. I’m more synced. Saying that, I stopped judging/telling people who don’t follow the practice but I was feeling bad that they are missing out big time, then I realized may be it’s not their calling yet. This loop of thinking still gets to me but respecting other people’s opinions and choices matter more than ever now. Live and let live! Do as you please but maintain and respect boundaries for yourself and others as well.
superb point for discussion my blessed @hc2101
further to what our blessed @satishsinghthakur @sarandha and @priyanka.bhu12 have added,
we must remember that Catherine went to Dr. Weiss for 18 months averaging one session a week. Most likely that her focus might have developed with every session.
Second as Dr. Weiss noted she was a person of very high intelligence, imagine a jew saying that. A correlation based on my personal experience is for people with high intelligence is they have tremendous focus levels. And when focus levels are high, which might not necessarily be from mediation but could also be from their dedication to a certain field. (through the work they are passionated about, for eg, for a coder, coding, for a football player all the focus is on the ball… a musician immersed in music… and so on…)
many people are forcing themselves to mediate and people who talk about mediation are those who only have courses to sell and hence nobody really understands what is this mediation. And those who really know what is mediation, do not want to come down from Himalayas and teach it 
One of you other batchmates also asked on how to mediate, a very sincere question and hence I’ll share with you all the actual mediation technique developed and proven through EEG (it works) in our next upcoming forum call,
Sold!! Eagerly looking forward to the next forum call!
I can totally relate to it. People with अधकचरा ज्ञान and excellent marketing skills are ruling the meditation industry and genuine people just can’t stand the ugliness and emptiness of the whole scenario. So they are better off living at Himalayas 