The 6 Best Guided Meditations of 2020

Best Overall: Tara Brach

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If you’re looking for a deeper practice that also feels like you’re getting a dose of therapy, then Tara Brach is for you.

With a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Brach will guide you through a peaceful, yet cathartic, meditation that helps you discover how self-compassion can relieve emotional suffering.

There are four meditation categories to choose from: Basic, Heart, Open Awareness, and Special Meditations/Reflections. Pre-recorded meditations include Relaxing Back into Natural Awareness, A Calm Refuge, Touching Peace, Embracing Life with an Open Heart, and more.

Some meditations feature guidance with just a few silent pauses, while others feature gentle rain or birds singing in the background. They range from around 10 to 40 minutes, on average. All of the meditations are free, but Brach asks for donations to make them as widely available as possible.

Want to find some inner peace? There are many online therapy services to help you.

Best for Beginners: Headspace

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Trying mediation for the first time can be intimidating, especially if you have no idea what to do. The good news? Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe talks you through the entire technique.

You will learn to do deep breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. He walks you through how it should feel throughout your body and what you should be noticing about your breath. At the same time, he will also help you find where in the body you feel your breath and the rhythm of your breath (long, short, deep, or shallow).

Headspace provides helpful cues for when external sounds appear. It’s amazing what you hear going on around you when you quiet your mind and body. This is an excellent reminder of the simplicity of the practice. You can choose from a variety of meditations based on your needs and how long you want to focus on the practice.

Headspace offers a two-week free trial. An annual subscription is about $80 and a monthly membership costs around $13.

Best for Deep Relaxation: The Honest Guys

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Like many others who swear by this guided meditation, Rick Clark's voice is alluring because it isn't distracting. He begins with deep breathing and points out that thoughts of anxiety and stress are common.

By asking you to follow or pace your breath with the sounds of the waves, the meditation becomes very calming. You could easily apply this slow breathing technique to life when having a panic or anxiety attack. While listening, you’ll find that your mind begins to quiet.

The key to success with this guided meditation is to allow yourself to be in total peace with your surroundings. As you feel more relaxed, Clark counts down from five to zero, and each number takes you deeper into relaxation. At the eight-minute mark, you’ll notice the addition of chimes and he stops talking. This allows you to focus on your breath while calming your body.

As the chimes fade out and the only sound you hear is the waves, you have the option of drifting off to sleep, continuing in this deeply relaxed state, or resuming your day.

This meditation and Clark's other offerings are free and available on YouTube.

Best for Walking: Gabby Bernstein

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Walking meditation has gained popularity over the last few years as more people are trying to find ways to squeeze in some relaxation time for their mind while exercising.

If you’re new to the idea of moving while meditating, the short intro from Gabby Bernstein is a great place to start. During the six-minute recording, you’ll focus on each step and how it connects to your breath. Her voice is very upbeat, which is helpful since you’re walking and not trying to fall asleep.

The overall goal of the meditation is to help you understand how to connect your mind with the body. After a few minutes of breath-work, she asks listeners to repeat a simple mantra while walking: “My happiness is a choice I make.”

Whether it’s her voice or the beat of the music, this guided meditation will empower you to take action as it calms, eases stress, and helps you focus on your breath. Listen to this meditation each time you go for a walk; you’ll be amazed at how it changes your perspective on exercise.

Bernstein offers free meditations that you can get when signing up for her email list. Her meditation albums cost around $10 to $12.

Best for Anxiety and Stress: Calm

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If you live with anxiety, adding one more thing to your day is enough to trigger thoughts of worry, stress, and panic. The good news? Calm offers a meditation from Tamara Levitt that only takes 10 minutes.

This meditation is perfect for a morning routine to help prepare your mind for the day ahead or at the end of a hectic day to help ease stress and anxiety. At the start, you’ll get right into body awareness and deep belly breathing. Then, you'll focus on calming racing thoughts. She often pauses to let you just focus on breathing (while listening to waves), which can be difficult for someone with anxiety.

You might notice thoughts arising about the past, the future, or something you should have said or done. Her advice? Don’t make an effort to look for thoughts, but when they arise, simply notice them.

Pay attention to whether or not they have a charge. Then, focus on letting the emotion come and letting the emotion go, just like the breath. The simplicity of this guided meditation is one of the reasons it made the list.

Calm offers a seven-day free trial with an annual membership for around $70. Or, if you want meditations for life, you can pay about $400 for indefinite access to the app.

Feeling anxiety? Online anxiety support groups can help.

Best for Sleep: Jason Stephenson

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Many of us struggle to turn off our thoughts at night, which can interfere with sleep. Listening to a guided meditation before bed can help break this cycle of worry.

These meditations work best if you get into a position where you can go to sleep (aka your bed). You’ll begin by taking an inventory of the tension in your body. With your breath, you will free the tension and mental and emotional stress. As this happens, your consciousness will shift from thoughts to healing.

For the remainder of the meditation, Jason Stephenson will guide you through the seven chakras, or energy centers in your body. You will understand what parts of your life need energy healing. Stephenson's voice, along with the gentle piano music, will help you release stress while sinking into your mattress.

Stephenson guides you through each chakra, asking you to notice how it looks, feels, and if you have felt any discomfort (physical or mental) in this area.

Stephenson's recordings are available for free on YouTube, and you can subscribe to his email list for other free sleep meditations.