5 Best Guided Meditations for Beginners
Starting a meditation practice can be daunting - especially nowadays where our outer world is designed to distract us from our inner world. But if you’ve clicked on this link, I think it’s safe to assume that you’re interested in starting a meditation practice. One of the biggest roadblocks that people experience (and that I myself ran into) was the common misconception that you’re supposed to turn your thoughts off while meditating. When the thoughts inevitably roll in, many give up after the first few tries because they find they aren’t able to stop their relentless mind. Rest assured, the ultimate point of meditation isn’t necessarily to shut off your brain, but to learn how to notice your thoughts and let them pass by without taking them on as your own. Eventually, you may find that your brain quiets more easily, but it’s like a muscle that needs to be worked. Sometimes over and over again.
The advantages of meditation are well documented; with people reporting benefits such as improvements in stress management, shifts in life perspective, increased self-awareness, patience, creativity, and overall reduced negative feelings. It also has physical benefits as it has been shown to help with anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and reducing your risk of heart disease.
If you’re looking for a good place to start, here are 5 simple guided meditations for beginners that I’ve used to find a practice that I now love:
1 Goodful 10-Minute Beginner Meditation
This is a good option if you are just starting and have zero idea how to meditate. The speaker talks throughout the meditation, guiding you through the entire process. It goes over different techniques and tips for meditation and breathing patterns. If you don’t need as much guidance this may not be for you.
2. Joe Dispenzia’s Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself Week 1 Meditation
This is an excellent body scan meditation, as you take note of different body parts and it helps you to fully relax into the meditation. I would recommend doing a 5-10 additional minutes afterwards just to sit with your breath, but this is another good one to do if you are just starting out.
3. Guided Meditation for Success, Wealth and Happiness
Hands down this is one of my all time favorite meditations and I always find myself coming back to it. The first 3 minutes of this meditation you spend doing a breathwork exercise to fill your body with oxygen, then you move into a gratitude practice and finally a visualization. This meditation is very powerful and many people in the comments experienced an overwhelming sense of gratitude and joy after practicing that even brought some to tears. 10/10 would recommend.
4. 5 Minute Guided Morning Meditation for Positive Energy
Quick and easy 5 minute meditation that guides you through breathing and a positive visualization practice. This is a nice meditation, because she gives you an intention [positivity] to focus on, which can help your brain to stay focused.
5. The Perfect 10 Minute Meditation
This one isn’t quite as “guided” as the others. I would encourage you to try it out to see if you prefer guided vs music, but if you need something to focus on try setting an intention and using it as a mantra or just focusing on your breathing.
If you find that guided meditations aren’t for you, as some find them distracting and prevent them from getting into a meditative state, I would suggest downloading the insight timer app on your phone and setting a timer for however long you’re comfortable with.
General Tips:
Eliminate all distractions: Use ear plugs and cover your eyes with something to block out light and noise
Listen to music: I recommend 528hz music on YouTube or Spotify or find some sound bowl recordings.
Sit up with your back straight. Try sitting against something or on a bolster to help ease any back pain. You can lie down, but it’s easier to fall asleep that way.
If your thoughts are racing, try to either focus on your breath or focus on a point in your minds eye.
Keep practicing! At first 3 minutes can feel like 20 minutes, but I promise with time, you will get the hang of it.
Meditation has been essential in easing my anxiety and depression. Where I used to dread doing it for even 5 minutes, I now usually meditate for 20-30 minutes in the morning and it’s my favorite part of my day! I hope you found one meditation that you are interested in trying and if you have found a meditation that you like better, be sure to leave it in the comments below to help others find the right fit for them. Thanks for a stopping by for a little balanced buzz!
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