In a world where digital overload and chronic stress have become beyond the norm, meditation facilitator, intuitive channel, former psychotherapist, and PhD Kristina Kyser is offering a powerful antidote: guided meditation.  

Here’s the thing… We could guess that well over half of you just froze at the thought. This is understandable; our recent survey discovered that only approximately 40% of respondents were familiar with meditation beyond a surface-level understanding of its process or benefits. 

From there, 8% say they’ve ever tried it — or so the other 92% think…

After all, meditation, at its most simple core, is where you give your brain a break. It’s the clearing of your mind, letting go of any thoughts or worries and, when they often and inevitably come up, gently bringing your focus back to your breathing. 

This is all to say, similar to how a broken clock is right twice a day, we have all found ourselves, no matter how inadvertently or deliberately, in a state of meditation at some point in our lives. 

Still, there’s a common misconception that one needs to “know” how to meditate, or that it’s a pass / fail practice. And there’s an unmistakably keen communal interest to learn — many just don’t know where to start. 

The good news is that it’s not as complicated as many think. 

“There are so many forms of meditation but, at its root, it is such a simple, simple practice,” Meditation Facilitator, Intuitive Channel, PhD, and former psychotherapist Kristina Kyser shares. “It should be — and can be — accessible to anyone. 

“It can be done anywhere; it can be done any time.”

With that, the type of meditation Kristina facilitates doesn’t require a particular posture, or any level of experience or expertise. If anything, one of the most enjoyable elements within her studio is introducing those new to the practice and guiding them in discovering its profound impact, she shares. 

Kristina leads her clients through The Guided Meditation Framework, or GMF. Combining mindfulness, hypnosis, and neuro-linguistic programming, GMF aims to help individuals achieve deep states of relaxation and inner connection. With a strong emphasis on guiding individuals to connect with their intuition, subconscious mind, or heart intelligence, the Framework is specifically designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of their experience with meditation. 

Most notably, it aims to calm the sympathetic nervous system and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, fostering a state of rest and healing. 

“It’s very straightforward work, essentially just cueing the nervous system to slow down. This means I will invite you to slow your breath down; I will invite you to relax certain parts of your body.”

While the Framework may be an integral arrow within Kristina’s quiver, she confirms that every meditation will present and result differently — no matter your familiarity or experience with the practice.  “What’s the same about every meditation is getting into a state of deep connection with your own core,” she explains. “From there, whether what you connect with as your intuition, subconscious mind, or heart intelligence, or you feel in connection with Spirit or Source, what happens from there has an infinite variation. We can receive direct guidance, love and support, insight… It’s an extremely powerful process, especially in a group with other people.” 

This is among the many reasons that Kristina, in addition to offering 1:1 personalized spiritually guided channeling sessions, also hosts a series of in-person and online offerings that facilitate and teach the practice, and how to support it. 

With seven Spiritual Day Retreats coming up over the remainder of the year, these immersive experiences allow participants to fully engage in meditation and channeling within a supportive community setting. Additionally, Kristina Kyser’s free Meditation & Channeling Circles offer regular opportunities for individuals to come together to learn and grow in their practice. These gatherings not only enhance personal meditation skills, but also foster a deep sense of belonging and connection among those gathered. Through these varied offerings, Kristina ensures that everyone, regardless of their background, experience, or resources, has the chance to explore and benefit from the transformative power of meditation. 

That said, however, many may feel they don’t have the time or energy to start. 

“I would say, ‘I hear you. I totally get it. And I was there,’” she says, for those who maybe think they don’t have the time or ability to learn how to meditate. “That is how I lived for years… I was so maxed out and in active burnout, and barely escaping burnout. I had exactly that mindset.”

Previously an academic, earning her PhD in English Literature and then teaching at University of Toronto, Kristina then trained as a psychotherapist — where she practiced for 13 years. 

“With this, I learned a great deal about physiology, trauma, and nervous system regulation,” she shares. “Increasingly, I moved towards somatic therapy; I was really interested less so in analysis and insight, and more so in trauma and the body and giving patients the opportunity to have a new experience in the moment. 

“It was very powerful work; it was also very demanding energetically and emotionally so what was happening alongside that was that my own spiritual practices and journey was deepening. I increasingly felt, based on what I was observing clinically, and also on my own path to healing and as a response to certain larger social forces, that there was a big shift needed in how I was working.” 

Among Kristina’s many observations around systemic traumas in our society — including, but not limited to, colonization, materialism, and individualism — she also came to terms with the oft-inescapable impact technology was contributing to our collective hurdles. 

“We’re flooded by just way too much information and I think what happens for a lot of people, because our devices were designed and specifically engineered to be addictive, we get into this negative cycle where we’re essentially feeling agitated and upset,” she says. 

This means “we consume more, and more, and more when what’s actually required is the opposite: to open up some space and attend to what’s happening inside.” 

And so? Meditation enters the chat. 

“Science is catching up to what the mystics and poets have been saying forever, right? Which is that the heart knows more than the brain does,” Kristina says. After all, “it’s right here… The heart is 18 inches from the brain; it’s right here, always. 

“There is an enormous body of scientific research now confirming the power it has. To reshape your physiology, quite literally, to reshape your brain pathways, to reshape how your nervous system is functioning… 

“I really can’t overstate the power of it.”

That said, while having a regular meditation practice has been scientifically proven to benefit many health concerns, Kristina explains, it should not be considered for emergency treatment and may not be advisable for severe symptoms; she encourages those interested to consult with their physician if they are wondering if it may be appropriate for them.

“It’s about getting the ‘fight or flight’ to sort of simmer down because we’re all chronically hyper-aroused, essentially,” she continues. “It’s just a fact of modern society and devices and technology have made it worse. This practice helps to get into a state of rest, digest, and learn.

“When our fear centers, or our sympathetic nervous system, is activated, it really narrows our perception of what’s happening and what’s possible. It means we get into a very closed system with lots of rumination and repetitive thought loops. Meditation really allows us to bypass that; one of the number one experiences people have is touching that sense of inner peace — the absence of rumination or the hyperactive analytical mind. 

“When you linger there long enough, you start to have access to a very different mode of perception both to your life, to the world, and to everything. And I think the longer we practice it in some formal capacity, the more it changes our daily moments and awareness.”

As for the most optimal way to experience the vast benefits of meditation, Kristina suggests adding journaling into the fold. 

“Journaling is another straightforward, easy, and accessible practice,” Kristina explains. “There are no rules, and there’s nothing fancy about it; it’s just about allowing yourself to put into words your current experience. 

“What we know from a psychotherapeutic point of view is that putting things into language — whether we speak them or write them — is one of the ways we integrate the left brain and right brain experience. And so, this form of meditation is designed to bring about that physiological shift, and to bring us into that different state where we receive something.

From there, “it’s designed to help you retain that as you come out,” she continues. “Journaling becomes this permanent marker of that experience that you can then return to, process again, and deepen into. And, when you do a sequence of them, there’s a deepening of the whole process that occurs through the journaling. 

“But again, there should be nothing complicated or daunting about it!” 

That is the overarching sense around the concept and practice of meditation; it shouldn’t feel intimidating, gatekept, time-consuming, or like a chore. Additionally, it should be considered all your very own. 

“Whatever baseline you’re at is the baseline you’re at so, in some ways, comparing yourself to others is kind of irrelevant; whether someone else accesses meditation more easily should not deter you from the fact that this is one of the most powerful interventions we have, you know?

“If you want to take the risk that something radically different is possible for you, and I will tell you that is true of every single person on the planet, then you have to take the time to walk through another door that allows you to see a radically different reality. And this is where we get into quantum physics or manifestation and co-creation but, if we want to stay strictly scientific and physiological, what you are able to see and think and believe and choose from within a framework of burnout and fear is very, very narrow. You will not be able to change your life from within that bandwidth. What you are able to access when you access your intuition, your subconscious mind, your heart’s intelligence, is you are actually able to bypass a lot of the beliefs you think are true. 

“It’s a belief that you picked up somewhere along the way, and it’s become encoded and entrenched in your physiology. So, as long as you don’t interrupt that belief, it will determine your life. Like the bars of a cage. But if you take the time to access an intelligence that resides within you, which is true — and so much deeper, so much more profound, and so much vaster — there will be opportunities and choices open to you that you are not even aware of right now.”

Kristina Kyser’s free drop-in Meditation & Channeling Circles take place online select Thursdays from 5:00 – 6:15 pm and can be accessed here. Additionally, Kristina Kyser offers personalized Channeling Sessions to clients online worldwide, as well as private in-person group events. 

Her Spiritual Day Retreats offer a transformative experience through guided meditation and channeling, aimed at helping support inner peace, nervous system regulation, relief from limiting beliefs, and more. Participants will benefit from teaching sessions on bypassing the analytical mind, guided meditations, personal channeled messages, and group processing — all designed to deepen the connection to one’s inner wisdom and facilitate personal transformation. Upcoming dates include July 21st, August 25th, September 29th, October 20th, November 3rd, November 17th, and December 8th. July and August retreats are 10:00 am -3:00 pm for $277+tax and, starting in the Fall, retreats will be from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm in Toronto, Ontario for $333+tax. Further information and ticket links are available here.

Kristina Kyser is a meditation facilitator, intuitive channel, spiritual teacher, former psychotherapist, and PhD based in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, visit her feature on Methods of Care, or her website: KristinaKyser.com 

Please note that while Kristina’s background includes psychotherapy, she is not currently practicing in this capacity; she does not offer psychotherapy sessions or treatment for mental health concerns.

All content on Methods of Care is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional medical advice. We understand the overwhelm of managing health and well-being, and aim to help by featuring pre-vetted services, products, events, and resources — but we’re not a replacement for your healthcare team. Please consult with your doctor if you have any concerns or before making any changes to your care plan.