Creative Ways to Generate Guided Meditations Using AI

March 30, 2025

Hi there! In this article I'm going to share some playful and creative experiments I've been doing to generate guided meditations using AI chatbots. My goal is to inspire you to try your own experiments and discover what's possible.

For these experiments I've used a combination of different chatbots, but mostly Claude and ChatGPT.

Let's dive right in.

Daily meditations in a particular style

Let's start with a simple experiment. Here, I wanted to see if a chatbot could generate a brief daily meditation, but in a specific style. I didn't provide detailed instructions, I simply allowed the chatbot to use its own knowledge. This experiment is interesting because it shows me just how much these chatbots already know about different meditation styles.

Can you create for me the script of a brief guided daily meditation that explores non-duality and direct awareness using secular, precise language? Please add also pause markers when appropriate in the format [pause for xx seconds].

# Daily Non-Dual Awareness Meditation I've created a brief daily meditation script focusing on non-duality and direct awareness, using secular and precise language. The meditation guides you...

Remixing a favourite meditation

For my next experiment I explored remixing and altering existing meditations. I took a meditation by Loch Kelly from his YouTube channel and asked the chatbot to create something new based on it.

The process was straightforward: I downloaded the transcript from YouTube, gave it to the chatbot, and asked it to expand the meditation. Interestingly, the resulting meditation ended up almost three times longer, not just twice.

I attach the transcript of a guided meditation I like. Can you create a new meditation script based on this meditation, expanding each section proportionally so the final result is approximately twice as long as the original? Keep the language and style as close as possible to the original. Add headings and appropriate pause markers in the format [pause for xx seconds] throughout.

I'll create an expanded meditation script based on the transcript you provided, while maintaining the style and flow of the original. I'll add section headings and pause...

The way the chatbot expanded the language is particularly fascinating. Here you can see examples of the original meditation alongside the expanded version. I've marked the newly added sections in bold for clarity.

Find a comfortable way of sitting. Become aware of your breath in either your chest or your belly as it rises and relaxes. Focus your attention there at this one area. When your mind wanders simply bring it back to the simple one-pointed focus in your body as your breath rises and relaxes.

Find a comfortable way of sitting. Allow your body to settle into a position that feels natural and supportive.

[pause for 10 seconds]

Become aware of your breath in either your chest or your belly as it rises and relaxes. Simply notice the natural rhythm without trying to change it.

[pause for 5 seconds]

Focus your attention there at this one area. Let your awareness rest gently on this single point of focus in your body as your breath rises and relaxes.

[pause for 10 seconds]

When your mind wanders, as minds naturally do, simply bring it back to this simple one-pointed focus in your body. No judgment, just a gentle return to the breath as it rises and relaxes.

More creative remixes

But expanding length is just one way to remix meditations. Curious about other possibilities, I asked Gemini 2.5 (a chatbot) for creative ideas on how to transform a meditation.

Okay, this is a fascinating area to explore! Using LLMs to creatively rewrite meditation scripts opens up many possibilities beyond just changing the length. Based on the "Effortless Mindfulness" script you provided, here are some creative ideas...

The chatbot gave me some interesting suggestions. From those suggestions I picked a couple of particularly creative ones.

The first remix aimed to shift the core focus of Loch's meditation toward gratitude. The chatbot remained faithful to the original practice of effortless mindfulness but introduced an interesting way of practicing gratitude with awareness. It even coined the term "grateful awareness" which reminds me of the more common "loving awareness".

For the second remix, I asked the chatbot to rewrite the meditation to make it suitable for children, using playful and simple language. The resulting meditation is quite cute, with charming concepts like the "magic bubble of awareness" and the "big sky mind".

Meditations inspired by talks

These experiments so far highlight something important: the richer the context provided to the chatbot, the more interesting and meaningful the results. So, in the next experiment, I decided to go deeper. This time, I took a Zen talk (a Teisho) by Henry Shukman from YouTube and again used the transcript to start a conversation with the chatbot.

To make the process more structured I first asked for a summary of the talk, then requested several meditation ideas that would capture its essence. From the chatbot's suggestions, I chose one I liked, and we refined it into a full meditation script.

I'd like to explore creating a guided meditation that capture the essence of this talk, perhaps a brief meditation that could follow listening to the talk itself. Can you suggest how this meditation may be? What could be the main topic and structure? Please do not generate yet the script. Let's discuss it first.

Open ChatGPT chat session

The result is... well, interesting! You can see it echoes the poetic essence of Henry's teachings... althought at times it also feels a bit like a word salad, as if it just tried to string together different words from the talk, without too much logic... 😅 I like it! Very Zen! 😉

Series of meditations following books

I took things a step further: I gave the chatbot (Claude 3.7) an entire meditation manual. I chose "With Each and Every Breath", a meditation guide by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, available freely online.

I created a new chat session, attached the PDF, and asked the chatbot to help me create a progressive series of meditations suitable for beginners. Before generating the scripts I discussed with the chatbot how best to structure the topics. Once agreed on a structure I asked the chatbot to generate one meditation at a time.

The outcome is remarkable: the topics, language, and overall accuracy seem to match the original material. I am genuinely impressed.

Open Claude chat session

Meditations from photos or artwork

For the final experiment I decided to try something even more creative and unusual. One evening, looking at a sunset from my balcony, I took a photo and asked a chatbot to create a guided meditation based on this very view. To make things more interesting I specifically asked it to follows the Headless Way style.

I love this meditation. It uses elements from the landscape (both visual and auditory) to guide attention while at the same time incorporating the essence of the Headless Way.

This experiment opens up entirely new possibilities. Imagine generating meditations on the fly based on your surroundings, or perhaps using artworks or sacred images as starting points.

I hope these examples inspires you to experiment creatively and playfully with these tools yourself.

I'm excited to see what the community will come up with, and I'd love to hear about your experiences!