25+ Free Guided Meditations to Do Before Work So You'll Be Relaxed
Starting your day with clarity is hard. Sleep quality, stress, and poor work environments are just a few of the things that can send your day into a tailspin. And while you can’t control everything, you can start your day with guided meditations.
Now, it’s easy to write off this practice, especially since it’s almost always portrayed negatively in media, often endorsed by unrelatable celebrities or polarizing cult leaders.
But meditation is more than a fad; it’s an ancient practice. In fact, meditating is thought to date back as far as 5,000 BCE, and it’s a staple in a number of religions.
Perhaps this is because meditation has numerous health benefits and can even rewire your brain in positive ways. So, if you’re interested in the practice of mindfulness, this post is for you. We’re covering over 25 free guided meditations you can use to achieve relaxation, peace, and hopefully, some much needed quiet time.
What we’ll cover:
Breathing meditations
Is there a proper way to meditate?
Before we start, you should know that there are so many ways to practice mindfulness! There really isn’t a wrong way to meditate, as long as you feel more relaxed after.
So, let’s dive right in with some breathing meditations!
Breathing meditations
Have you ever paid attention to your breathing in specific moments? If I’m getting frustrated with a colleague, for instance, I might forget to breathe, or I might notice my breaths are shallow. On the other hand, if I’m having a relaxing time sitting on the deck, I might have slow, easy breaths.
While emotions impact breathing, breathing also impacts emotions, creating a cyclical effect. Consistent, healthy breathing is incredibly important to overall wellness (for obvious reasons). But how we breathe also sends signals to our bodies, and our quality of oxygen intake impacts our physiological state.
Breathing meditations are one of the easiest ways to calm your senses, and you can sneakily do these practices in a variety of places. In fact, some only take a minute.
1. Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly
This is a great practice to use as you’re going to sleep. First, place the tip of your tongue against your top teeth. Let your tongue rest on your hard palate.
Take four breaths in slowly, hold for four seconds, and release for four seconds. See if you can do this four times, exhaling for a longer period of time during each exhale (up to eight seconds). Then, repeat until you feel relaxed.
2. Counting your breaths
This exercise comes from Positive Psychology. First, sit in a quiet space and close your eyes. Inhale and picture the number “one.” Exhale. Then, inhale and picture the number “two.” Continue doing this until you feel calm.
3. Whistle breathing or pursed-lip breathing
Slowly breathe in through your nose, hold for a moment, then exhale through a whistle shape in the mouth. Repeat until you begin to feel relaxed.
4. Quiet-time breathing
Sit or lay down in a quiet place where you won’t have any distractions. Clear your mind, and simply concentrate on your breaths. Try to make your breathing the only sound you focus on.
5. Belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing
If you ever took a performance class, like band, choir, or drama, you're probably already familiar with this technique.
Image source: Medical News Today
When you breathe into your diaphragm, your stomach swells, allowing you to take slower, fuller, and more intentional breaths. According to the American Lung Association, people with weaker lungs can use this practice to strengthen their diaphragms, reducing the strain on other parts of the body.
In order to gauge how much you’re using your diaphragm, you can rest your hand on your stomach. If you’re looking to strengthen yourself, you can lay down and put something on your stomach, like a tissue box or book.
6. Breathe while laying on your stomach
Used as a breath-strengthening exercise for Coronavirus survivors, this is similar to belly breathing. Lay stomach-down on a soft surface, like a bed or sofa.
Rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and breathe in slowly through your nose. Allow your diaphragm to push against the soft surface of the bed or sofa. Release through your nose. Repeat for up to a minute.
7. Inhale and exhale through alternating nostrils
The primary purpose of this exercise is to clear your mind so that you’re concentrating fully on your breathing.
Cover one nostril and inhale through the uncovered one. Then, cover that nostril and release the other. Exhale. Continue doing this, alternating between nostrils, until your breathing becomes calm and easy.
8. Deep breathing and imagination meditation
This is a great exercise to use if you feel an anxiety attack coming on. If possible, sit or lay down in a quiet place with as few distractions as possible.
Close your eyes, and focus on your air intake. Picture yourself in a happy place, preferably a place with no negative associations. This can be a real place or one of your own design.
Try to imagine the fine details of this place. For instance, if you’re in a meadow, what sounds do you hear? What does the grass feel like? What shoes are you wearing? What color is the sky?
By focusing on these specific details, you can distract your mind and avoid the sensory overload you may be experiencing in the moment.
9. Stretch, yawn, smile
Another COVID-19 recovery exercise, this breathing meditation works on a number of levels. Not only does it strengthen your lung capacity, but smiling is also a way to trick your body into releasing some of those feel-good neurotransmitters, like dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. Smiling also creates the release of neuropeptides to fight off stress.
Image source: John Hopkins Medicine
To do this exercise, sit upright and stretch your arms into a v-shape above your head. Then, yawn (or pretend to), and bring your arms down. As you bring your arms down, transition into a smile and hold that expression for three seconds.
For best results, repeat this exercise for one minute.
10. Gratitude meditation
You can do this meditation almost anywhere. Try practicing it on your next walk, the next time you’re at a stoplight, or if you’re starting to feel like nothing’s going right.
Take a deep breath; mentally list a few things you’re grateful for; then, exhale. You can repeat this exercise for a more meditative experience, or you can do it throughout the day in an effort to condition yourself into more positive thoughts.
11. Stillness meditation
Find a comfortable position that you can stay in for a minute. Then, set a timer and try not to move or open your eyes. Focus on inhaling and exhaling deeply for the full minute. Once you’re finished, consider stretching or trying #9 from this list.
12. Humming meditation
This practice is very similar to belly breathing, but with one major difference. When you exhale, you hum. While the humming can be soothing to the mind, it also has physical benefits related to the nervous system and how oxygen travels inside the body.
13. Lion’s breathing
Unlike many of these exercises, this one involves exhaling through the mouth. You may want some alone time to practice this breathing meditation, however, since you may feel self-conscious doing it.
It begins like many of the others, with a deep breath through the nose. However, when you exhale, you open your mouth, extend your tongue and stretch the muscles in your face. If you want, you can do your best lion impression for fun.
YouTube guided meditations
Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone else take you through each step of a meditation. Luckily, YouTube has numerous videos that can help you shut out distractions.
14. Calm’s 10-minute mindfulness meditation
If you have ten minutes, you can listen to this guided meditation from the makers of the Calm app.
15. A 5-minute guided meditation from Goodful
Go even shorter with this 5-minute meditation from Goodful. Like Calm, they have several free meditations on YouTube.
16. Great Meditation’s guided morning meditation
If you’re needing inspiration around work-specific issues or even personal passions, this guided meditation might be the perfect one for you. The description also includes journaling prompts.
17. A 15-minute guided mindfulness meditation from MindfulPeace
This guided meditation focuses on self-realization and connecting with yourself and others.
18. Self’s 10-minute self-love guided meditation
In this video, you’ll relax and work through a meditation that helps you encourage self-warmth and self-compassion.
19. A 7-minute guided meditation from Yoga with Adriene
You may be familiar with this yogi YouTuber already, but did you know she also offers guided meditations? This one is made for mornings, so you can have a successful day.
20. Sadhguru’s 15-minute guided meditation for health and wellbeing
If you’re new to meditating, this video offers clear instructions for opening yourself up to the practice.
21. Calming meditation music from Nature Healing Society
While this video doesn’t take you through a guided meditation, it’s a perfect pairing with one of the breathing exercises listed above.
Spotify guided meditations
If you commute to work, Spotify can be a great way to get those guided meditations in. Alternatively, you could play these while you take your morning shower, adding some mindfulness to your routine.
The options listed below have several different meditations to choose from, so find your favorites and give them a follow.
22. The Daily Meditation Podcast
Get your daily dose of guided meditations with this podcast.
23. The Honest Guys
This artist offers several different kinds of relaxing meditations to choose from.
24. Deepak Chopra’s “Fear” meditation
You can now listen to cultural icon Deepak Chopra on Spotify. In this meditation on fear, he encourages you to release inhibitions. This could be a good episode to listen to before a big meeting or presentation.
You can find his other guided meditations on his Spotify profile.
25. Guided meditations to listen to with kids
Maybe you don’t have time to yourself in the mornings. That’s okay! Here are some creative meditations you can do with your kids.
Yoga positions to pair with meditations
I’m definitely no yogi, but pairing these stretches with guided meditations is a great way to move your body and concentrate on the here-and-now. Below are some simple positions you can practice during your meditations.
Forward bend
The forward bend pose, otherwise known as Paschimottanasana, is a position in which you bend forward with your head down, trying to touch your toes.
Raised hands pose
In the Urdhva Hastasana pose, you plant both feet firmly on the ground and reach up, touching your palms together. This is a great way to stretch, and it’s a fairly easy pose to hold.
Staff pose
In the Dandasana position, you’re seated firmly on the floor with your legs straight out. You flex your feet so they’re straight and place your hands on either side of you, keeping your shoulders relaxed and down. You can use one of the breathing exercises while doing this pose, or choose a longer guided meditation.
Butterfly pose
In the simple Baddha Konasana pose, you get a stretch through your hips while still sitting comfortably. Simply take a seat on the floor, a mat, or your bed, and begin to sit cross-legged. Instead of crossing your legs, however, put the soles of your feet together and hold your hands there.
Laughter yoga
Have you heard of Laughter Yoga? In this exercise, you move and breathe like traditional yoga, but you laugh while doing it. Similar to the smile-yawn exercise, this movement tricks your body into releasing positive chemicals.
Affirmations
Below are some simple affirmations you can say to promote confidence and calm. If you have your own business like I do, affirmations may help you feel more empowered.
”I am enough.”
“I am confident.”
“I am worthy of success.”
“I am worthy of kindness and respect.”
“I can be whatever I want to be.”
“People respect me and want to hear what I have to say.”
“I have creative energy and it gives me new, exciting ideas.”
“I am courageous and stand up for myself.”
“I’m at peace with my past, present, and future.”
Conclusion
Taking a few minutes to reflect isn’t always easy, but meditating doesn’t have to be hard. In just a few minutes, you can do some deep breathing, listen to or watch a guided meditation, strike a yoga pose, or repeat a few affirmations. (Or all of the above!)
Interested in more work-related advice? Check out our blog.
