7 free short relaxing meditations

All of these excellent free short relaxing meditations can be found on the wonderful Insight Timer. You can access these meditations through the website links provided or you can download the Insight Timer App and look them up there. This carefully curated list of short relaxing meditations range from 4 mins to 18 mins so no matter how much time you have, you can spend a short amount of time on a meditation practice to help increase your relaxation and decrease your stress.

4-7-8 Breathing Technique (With Music) by Tramaine Cato

Insight timer link: 4-7-8 Breathing Technique

Duration: 4:25

Style: Guided, with peaceful and calming music in the background.

Notes: In our post on Breathing exercises for relaxation we shared how the 4-7-8 Breathing Technique can help you relax. This very short meditation guides you through this breathing technique and is perfect if you are just starting out this practice.

Practice For Stress, Panic & Overwhelm by Neil Tranter

Insight timer link:  Practice For Stress, Panic & Overwhelm

Duration: 5:44

Style: Guided, no music and is designed to do standing up, so handy if you want to do a quick meditation at work!

Notes: This is a perfect short meditation to do if you find that you are breathing quickly due to stress or are feeling panicked or overwhelmed by your workload. It helps you connect your breathing and your body and it will leave you feeling more grounded and soothed. 

Relaxing Your Mind by Lama Yeshe Rabgye

Insight timer link: Relaxing Your Mind  

Duration:  8:30

Style: Guided, no music. Bells at the beginning and end.

Notes: This short relaxing meditation guides you to focus on your breath. Very calming voice with only minimal cues. Perfect if you prefer guided meditation with less talking.

Meditation For The Tired & Stressed by Chelsea Pottenger

Insight timer link: Meditation For The Tired & Stressed

Duration: 10:40

Style: Guided with calm music in the background

Notes: Throughout this short relaxing meditation, Chelsea guides you through a body scan so you can really tune into the connection between the body and your emotions. This meditation will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed. Chelsea has a calm, clear Australian accent to listen to.

SOS Help For Stress & Anxiety by Tomek Wyczesany, Ph.D.

Insight timer link: SOS Help For Stress & Anxiety

Duration: 12:16

Style: Guided with gentle, quiet music in the background.

Notes: This short meditation gets you to first acknowledge that you are feeling stressed or anxious, that it is okay to feel this way and then guides you through a process to reduce your stress. Brings a scientific approach to what you are experiencing. This is a perfect meditation for those who like to know the "why" what they are doing and the mechanism for how it all works.

Find Your Rhythm To Reduce Stress & Relax by Peter Dawson

Insight timer link:  Find Your Rhythm To Reduce Stress & Relax

Duration: 16:20

Style: Guided meditation with gently flowing music and soft sounds of the ocean

Notes:  This relaxing meditation guides through periods of breathing sequences and then encourages you to find your natural rhythm of breathing. It has a five minute block where you focus on your natural rhythm without any talking so perfect for those who are looking to do a self guided meditation component.

Release Stress And Pressure by Meg James

Insight timer link:  Release Stress And Pressure 

Duration:  18:00

Style: Guided, with beautiful and gentle music in the background.

Notes: This relaxing meditation is a little bit longer but definitely worth the time - you feel so much better after doing it! It guides you to focus on letting go of your worries and stress, naming areas of life that could be causing you stress and where you might be feeling it in your body.. Meg has a beautiful voice. It is gentle and calming and she has a lovely Australian accent. Meg leaves lots of pauses where you can immerse yourself in the music. Perfect if your mind and body are feeling uptight from stress.

You can also follow up your meditation with an Adapt Drinks Relax to extend further that feeling of increased relaxation and decreased stress!