Free 1-, 5-, and 10-Minute Guided Meditations to Start Your Practice

After sharing You Don’t Have to Sit Still to Meditate, I received a simple and honest request:

“Can you share the actual meditations you recommend?”

Yes. I can.

Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t understanding meditation — it’s choosing where to begin. Especially when your brain is already squirrelly and paralyzed by decision fatigue.

So below you’ll find three short, free guided meditations on YouTube (yes I have actually used them myself!). One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. No pressure. No perfect setup required.

Just choose the amount of time that feels good to you, and press play.

If You Only Have One Minute

A one-minute meditation may not sound like much, but it’s honestly a really great place to start, especially for beginners. It removes resistance. It lowers the bar. It proves to your nervous system that stillness is safe — and doable.

 1-Minute Guided Meditation:
[YouTube Link Here]

Use this when:

• You’re about to react emotionally (“GIVE ME A DAMN SECOND!”)

• You’re overstimulated (also^)

• You’re transitioning between tasks (“UGH what do I even do next?!”)

• You’re trying to build consistency (One minute out of a day is easy to stick to!)

One minute done daily is more helpful for building a healthy habit than ten minutes done once a month.

If You Have Five Minutes

Five minutes allows your breath to slow and your body to settle just a little deeper.

It’s long enough to feel a shift, but short enough that your brain doesn’t revolt.

5-Minute Guided Meditation:
[YouTube Link Here]

Use this when:

• Your mind feels busy

• You need a reset between meetings

• You’re winding down at night

• You want structure without overwhelm

Remember — if your mind wanders, you can always return to the voice guiding you. Learning how to return is the practice.

If You’re Ready for Ten Minutes

Ten minutes can feel like a stretch in the beginning. That’s okay.

This is where you might start to notice:

• your shoulders softening

• your jaw unclenching

• your breath deepening

10-Minute Guided Meditation:
[YouTube Link Here]

Use this when:

• You really need to clear your head

• You’re working on stress regulation

• You’re building a sustainable daily habit

You do not have to sit perfectly still for all ten minutes. Adjust. Wiggle. Stretch. Get comfortable. Meditation is about awareness, not rigidity.

A Quick Reminder Before You Press Play

You are not trying to achieve enlightenment. You are not trying to eliminate thoughts.

You are practicing:

• pausing

• noticing

• returning

Your mind will wander. That’s normal.
You will feel restless. That’s normal.
You might feel calm one day and distracted the next. Also normal.

Meditation isn’t linear. It’s nervous system training. And like any training, it takes repetition — not perfection.

Why This Matters (From a Nervous System Perspective)

When you intentionally sit — even briefly — without reacting to every thought, your body begins to shift out of sympathetic (“fight or flight”) mode and into parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) mode.

Over time, this practice can:

• reduce baseline stress (and many of the physical symptoms that come along with that..)

• improve emotional regulation

• support stress hormone balance

• increase your tolerance for discomfort

• improve focus and clarity

You are teaching your body that it doesn’t need to be on high alert all the time. That matters.

Start Where You Are

If one minute feels manageable, begin there. If five minutes feels doable, try it. If ten feels intimidating, that’s information — not failure. Meditation is a practice, and it can be adjusted to fit into your day regardless of what life throws at you.

And if you’ve made it this far, you’re already closer than you think.