The world’s largest free audio library for everyday wellbeing
Real people. Real life. Real time.
Retreat categories
All RetreatsYoga RetreatsWellness RetreatsMeditation RetreatsYoga Teacher TrainingWomen's RetreatsYoga Retreats in BaliYoga Retreats in United KingdomYoga Retreats in AustraliaYoga Retreats in ItalyFind Your Perfect Retreat
Discover transformative Retreats led by Insight Timer's best teachers.Reconnect, recharge, and return renewed.
The world’s largest free audio library for everyday wellbeing
Blog categories
Mental Health and WellbeingTips and GuidesScience and ResearchTraditionSpiritualityAt WorkTop Articles
How to Meditate
Meditation is something everyone can do. Practicing can help improve your health and wellbeing.
Explore MeditationMeditation Timer
Free meditation timer with customizable intervals, bells, and ambient sounds.
Meditation Timer OnlineAnxiety Meditation
Free guided meditations for Anxiety.
Featured
What is anxiety meditation?
This article was written by Dr. Traci Moreno.
Anxiety meditation is any meditation specifically used for helping with symptoms of anxiety. Many different techniques and approaches can be helpful in managing and healing anxiety and stress. Great news — since each of us experiences anxiety and stress differently and will respond uniquely to anxiety meditation.
Anxiety meditation benefits
Research shows that meditation is a highly effective coping skill to relieve, reduce and even prevent symptoms of anxiety. This is due to its many health benefits that include but are not limited to:
- stress reduction
- increased awareness and mindfulness
- reduced rumination
- improved emotional regulation
- enhanced relaxation response
- better coping skills
- higher sleep quality
We all experience anxiety differently. At the low end of the spectrum, anxiety can feel like excessive worrying or stress. However, it’s important to note that not all worrying and stress is anxiety. Anxiety is a mental health disorder that causes a daily impairment of functioning and should be diagnosed by a mental health professional.
Dealing with stress as well as anxiety? Meditation helps both, but our dedicated stress meditations can support you in particularly demanding moments.
The anxiety spectrum
At the middle end of the spectrum, we can experience intrusive, obsessive or ruminating thoughts that can consume our mind and body. At the high end of the spectrum, our sympathetic nervous system takes over causing a fight, flight or freeze response. If you have a Panic Disorder — another type of Anxiety Disorder — this is when panic attacks are likely to occur.
If you were to rate the level of intensity of anxiety on a scale of one to ten (ten being the most intense), the anxiety meditation you choose should match the level of intensity of your feelings of anxiety. Because, let’s face it, how realistic is it to practice a gentle, peaceful meditation technique when your level of anxiety is about seven or higher? It’s really not. Recommended anxiety meditations at a higher level of intensity should include a higher level of physical activity and a lower level of attention and concentration in order to literally move the excess energy from your nervous system.
Explore anxiety meditation on Insight Timer’s meditation app, led by top meditation teachers. If you’re feeling anxious now, try this free guided anxiety meditation from Dr. Traci Moreno, PsyD.
Best meditation and meditation techniques for anxiety
Below is a list of meditation and meditation techniques for anxiety from high intensity to low intensity. Insight Timer is a great resource for anxiety meditation with over 200,000 free meditation tracks and 80+ new free guided meditations added daily.
Walking meditation
This meditation includes the physicality of walking, which can quickly provide anxiety relief by literally walking off that excess energy.
Diaphragmatic breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing is also effective because it’s a more active, physically exertive type of breathing technique. Pranayama meditation is another type of active breathing meditation.
Mindful movement
Qi Gong and mindful movement is another great option, which helps move the flow of the energy through movement and breathing exercises.
Sound baths
If you prefer sound baths or meditation music to decrease symptoms, opt for sound that incorporates alpha brain waves that have been shown to “increased production of alpha brain waves can not only reduce stress and anxiousness but allow people to maintain more focus.”
Guided meditation
As we move down a few levels of intensity to the middle of the scale, we can utilize anxiety-reducing meditations that involve more mental clarity, which we should have more of as symptoms decrease. This includes guided meditations for anxiety that can slow down and even stop negative thoughts, overthinking, and rumination and increase self-awareness by disrupting anxious thoughts and refocusing our thought process on the visualization techniques.
Tai Chi
For mindfulness-based movement, Tai Chi consists of slow, rhythmic movement to help relieve stress. A study on the effects of mindfulness shows “significant improvements in spirituality and positive health measures and decreases in depressive relapse, depressive recurrence and psychological distress.”
Breath awareness meditation
Since symptoms of anxiety are often rooted in stress from the past or fears of the future, breath awareness meditation can help bring us to the present moment where we feel safe. This is also a great place for beginners to start, because the breathing techniques you’ll learn in these meditations will set the foundation for other meditations that may jump right into guided imagery and skip the beginning breath work to center and ground you. If you are a beginner, Welcome!
Safe place visualization
Depending on what’s causing the anxiety, guided meditation that focuses on a specific need can be very helpful. If you don’t feel physically or emotionally safe or you’re being triggered or having a trauma response, try a safe place visualization.
Future self visualization
If self-doubt, insecurity and fear are to blame, a future self visualization can help you see the future-you with more strength and confidence.
Loving-kindness meditation
Loving-kindness meditation nurtures feelings of compassion and kindness towards ourselves and others through guided phrases or visualizations. This practice can improve emotional well-being and connection.
Mantra meditation
Mantra meditation can be the perfect gift of self-love any time you need it. “The sound of a mantra within meditation has been . . .an effective vehicle to override mental speech, which is the predominant form of consciousness for most people, and to redirect those negative or intrusive automatic thoughts that perpetuate distress,” this study found.
Body scan meditation
At the lower end of the scale, our nervous system is now more calm and ready to receive a deeper level of relaxation and inner peace. With body scan meditation, we bring attention to each part of the body to release tension and be aware of our body’s sensations.
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
Similar to body scan meditation, PMR eases tension and anxiety by tensing and relaxing each of your muscles one by one.
Yoga nidra
Yoga nidra is a practice for guiding your mind and body into a state of deep relaxation. This study found that yoga nidra is “an effective tool in reducing both cognitive and physiological symptoms of anxiety.”
Resources and tools for anxiety meditation
Online resources and communities
Finding a community and support for anxiety meditation can help us feel more at ease and less alone in our struggles. Explore the many groups and online events on Insight Timer to connect with other people looking to learn about and explore meditation for anxiety.
Premium meditation courses
If you’re looking for structured guidance on anxiety meditation, dive into Insight Timer’s premium courses, as well as tools and support for those starting their journey. Unlock over 700 courses led by experienced teachers with a free trial of Members Plus!
Upcoming Retreats
Teachers
Popular teachers exploring this topic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about meditations for anxiety
References
Álvarez-Pérez, Y., Rivero-Santana, A., Perestelo-Pérez, L., Duarte-Díaz, A., Ramos-García, V., Toledo-Chávarri, A., Torres-Castaño, A., León-Salas, B., Infante-Ventura, D., González-Hernández, N., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, L., & Serrano-Aguilar, P. (2022). Effectiveness of mantra-based meditation on mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3380. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063380
Chen, K. W., Berger, C. C., Manheimer, E., Forde, D., Magidson, J., Dachman, L., & Lejuez, C. W. (2012). Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Depression and Anxiety, 29(7), 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.21964
Ferreira-Vorkapic, C., Borba-Pinheiro, C., Marchioro, M., & Santana, D. (2018). The impact of yoga Nidra and seated meditation on the mental health of college professors. International Journal of Yoga, 11(3), 215. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_57_17
Mars, T. S., & Abbey, H. (2010). Mindfulness meditation practise as a healthcare intervention: A systematic review. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 13(2), 56–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijosm.2009.07.005
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2022, June). Meditation and Mindfulness: What You Need To Know. NCCIH. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation-and-mindfulness-what-you-need-to-know
Schulte, B. (2015, May 26). Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/
Sharma, H. (2015). Meditation: Process and effects. AYU (an International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda), 36(3), 233. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8520.182756
Stress, Anxiousness, and the Brain Wave Connection. (2020). NeuroScience (En-US). https://www.neuroscienceinc.com/news/2020/stress-anxiousness-and-the-brain-wave-connection
How can we help?
Trusted by 35 million people. It’s free.