Meditation Roundup

​

Have ever done a brief meditation — perhaps at the end of a yoga class, or during a leadership retreat — and felt like a blissed-out, limp, blanket of relaxation afterward? Did you notice how relaxed your body was feeling? And how about your mind – was it a bit calmer, maybe a little slower than it was beforehand?

 

Whether you’re an expert meditator, or you’ve only meditated because your friend dragged you to a yoga class, I bet meditation had you feeling mysteriously different.

 

There is now ample scientific research that proves something meditation practitioners have suspected for millennia – that meditation has myriad powerful benefits on our brains and bodies.

 

Here are some of the studied, proven benefits you can look forward to with a consistent meditation practice:

 
 

Fair enough, you might be thinking. But still… why is an executive coach with high-achieving, fast-paced clients waxing poetic about meditation, and why does she insist on starting each client session with meditation?!

 

Simple — because meditation helps calm our minds and focus on what’s most important to us. And knowing what’s most important to you is the key to loving what you do — at work and in life.

 

If you want to fast-track yourself into these benefits, though, you must be consistent.  Just like physical muscle can only be built through consistency (e.g. going to the gym a few times a week, not just once a month), you’ll generally only gain meditation’s benefits by consistently meditating.  Try meditating for 1 minute 5x a week to start, building up to 5 minutes daily as your practice grows.

 

Another key: finding meditations you love.  There are millions of meditation teachers, styles and genres to choose from – it’s wonderful to have choice, but it can be overwhelming!

 

Below, I’ve pulled together some of my favorite FREE meditations across the internet for every mood, need and mindset.  The meditations I’ve curated are all guided, though you can certainly practice meditating on your own, unguided. 

 

Self-Confidence/Self-Love

  • Self-Love for the Feminine – a moving and beautiful meditation that helps embrace all parts of you. Despite its title, this is not only for women meditators – it’s for everyone.

  • Quick Confidence – a short boost of confidence led by a teacher with a soothing, calming voice.

  • Loving Yourself: An Energetic Transmission – a 7-minute body scan plus positive affirmation meditation that helps connect you to a sense of positivity and self-love.

 

Boost of Positivity and Focus

  • Gratitude – one of my personal favorites, and one of the shortest on this list at 5 minutes. I meditate to this track at least twice a week and it nearly always brings joyful tears to my eyes!

  • Quick Calm – a short form of body scan meditation to move you from anxious to calm in just 5 minutes.

  • 5 minute meditation – another body scan meditation that’s effective in bringing you back into calm, energetic focus.

 

Sleep Meditations

  • Yoga Nidra Stairway to Heaven – another deeply relaxing, uplifting, meditation to help you fall asleep at night. Yoga Nidra meditation can also be used mid-day or anytime you need a break – it’s said that a short Yoga Nidra practice (usually between 30 and 45 minutes) gives you the equivalent sense of rest of 2-4 hours of sleep.

  • Heal While you Sleep with Binaural Beats – while this meditation is designed to help you drift off to sleep, it also includes two powerful additions: positive affirmations, which help boost self-confidence, and binaural beats, which trigger the brain to relax even more deeply. To get the benefit of the binaural beats, it’s critical to listen to this particular meditation with headphones.

  • Floating in the Stars – fall asleep to the feeling of floating in the stars, as the title suggests. The background music and the voice of the meditation teacher are incredibly soothing.

 

Rituals

  • Bath meditation – lovely to listen to as you’re taking a bath. It’s 8 minutes long, but it makes your bath feel like a luxurious ritual.

  • Longer bath meditation – this one is a bit longer at 18 minutes, giving you even more time to savor and be mindful.

  • Full moon practice for clearing and letting go – this meditation is meant to be practiced either on the day of the full moon, or up to three days pre- or post. It’s a powerful practice to tap into each month to reconnect with what energizes you and what you may need to shed.

 

Future-Self Meditations – this genre of meditation is based in visualization, which can be challenging for some. It is powerful, though, especially when on a longer journey with big goals, like a career or weight loss journey.  A future-self meditation is not aimed at “revealing” who you’ll be in the future like a crystal ball; rather, it helps you crystallize your vision more solidly, work through some of the blockers you’re encountering, and perhaps see your journey in a new light.  There are two versions I use and love, linked below.  I recommend listening to them and then journaling for 5-10 minutes afterward, free-writing to simply let yourself note down everything you felt, noticed and thought. 

What’s your favorite meditation you’ve come across?  Please share it in comments below!

 

Need more 1:1 guidance? Click here to schedule some time with me — I’d love to chat and help you love what you do.

Haven Coaching