Stress is inevitable and good in some ways. It can help you react to a dangerous situation, motivate you to achieve goals, and adjust to new situations. When stress is chronic and unrelenting, it is damaging both physically and mentally. Meditation is one way to cope with it.

The Benefits of Meditation in a Stressful Life

Busy schedules, expectations, responsibilities, work-life balance, and current events perpetuate negative and chronic stress in many people. Take time out if you can. Take a break and get away from the things that stress you out. When you can’t, try meditating to heal from damaging stress.

Meditation is a fairly simple practice of focusing your attention. Mindfulness meditation is all about building awareness in the present moment. All types of meditation help you achieve a state of calm in the face of external stressors.

The stress response tenses the body, activates the mind, and increases heart rate and breathing. Meditation has the opposite effect, relaxing muscles and the mind. Studies of meditation prove that it relieves all kinds of psychological stress and mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and even physical pain.

Stress often manifests as physical symptoms and worsens some chronic conditions. Studies show that regular meditation relieves some of the symptoms of these illnesses, including fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome.

Guided Meditations to Manage Stress

To better cope with stress in your life, try these meditations specifically designed to ease your mind, relax the body, and help you sleep.

Gratitude for Stressful Times

Gratitude builds happiness and tears down negativity. Use this meditation to get a better perspective on what’s good in your life and to make you more resilient in the face of stress.

Breathing for Stress Release

Breathing exercises have long been used to reduce stress. By controlling and focusing on your breath, you’ll naturally relax your body and eliminate some of your stress.

SOS De-Stress Meditation

Make this meditation your go-to solution to combatting stress in the moment. Before or after a stressful situation, or even during, if you can get away for a minute, this meditation will bring you back down to earth. It only takes nine minutes.

Stress Relief Exercise

This is an all-around great meditation and exercise for any stressful situation, at the end of a workday, or before bed.

Grounding Meditation Exercise

When you have just a moment to wind down, try this one-minute exercise to de-stress.

Self-Love Body Scan

When you have 30 minutes to spare, use this body scan to prepare for bed. You made it through a difficult day full of potentially stressful situations. You deserve this.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

If you carry the stress of the day in your tense muscles, use this progressive relaxation technique to unwind and relax.

Use these meditations with affirming, relaxing mantras, and you have a powerful recipe for reduced stress, better sleep, and improved overall health.