7-Minute Guided Meditation for Anxiety Relief
Sometimes the best medicine is taking a few minutes to slow down, access stillness, and reconnect with your gentle beating heart.
If you're struggling with anxiety right now, feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world, or stressed out from navigating life - I got you.
I created this gentle but powerful 7-minute guided meditation for anxiety to help you hit pause on the chaos and find a way back to yourself.
Whether you're new to meditation or have struggled to find a practice that actually helps with your anxiety symptoms, this breathwork-based meditation offers a guided practice to soothe your mind, heart and nervous system.
Why This Meditation for Anxiety Works
As a licensed therapist, yoga and meditation teacher, and someone who has struggled with anxiety myself, I understand how ridiculous it feels when well-meaning people suggest you "just take a deep breath" or "relax." Anxiety isn't something you can simply think your way out of, because anxiety doesn't live in the mind, it lives in the body, in your nervous system, in the heaviness that weighs on your heart.
This guided meditation for anxiety takes a different approach.
Rather than trying to eliminate anxious thoughts or force relaxation, we'll work with your nervous system, using breath and gentle awareness to soften the tension, reconnect with your heart, and offer your mind and body a safe place to land. This practice integrates principles from somatic therapy and mindfulness, creating a bridge between your racing mind, your wise body and your infinitely compassionate heart.
I invite you to practice when you can, but if possible, commit to practicing 7 days in a row. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the self-care momentum you build by practicing this meditation just 7 minutes a day.
“When we slow down and breathe deeply, we’re literally rewiring our nervous system and learning how to actually feel safe in our body.”
What Makes This Anxiety Meditation Different
Unlike other meditation practices that might feel too long or overwhelming when you're already anxious or keyed up, this 7-minute anxiety meditation will help you slow down, feel more grounded, and is easy to practice even if you’ve never meditated before.
It's short enough to feel manageable when your nervous system is activated, yet long enough to create real shifts in your mind, body and heart.
The focus is simple: an invitation to simply breathe and be present with yourself.
No complex visualizations, no pressure to "empty your mind," nothing to “fix”, no judgments about whether you're doing it "right."
Just you, your breath, and gentle guidance to offer yourself some love and self-compassion.
This breathing meditation for anxiety incorporates:
Conscious breathwork to regulate your nervous system
Somatic awareness to reconnect with your body's wisdom
Self-compassion practices to soothe your inner critic
Grounding techniques to anchor you in the generous present moment
Who is This Anxiety Meditation For?
This beginner-friendly anxiety meditation is for you if you:
Feel overwhelmed by racing thoughts or constant mental chatter
Experience physical symptoms of anxiety like restlessness, tension, hypervigilance, or a heaviness in your heart
Have tried meditation before but felt like you "couldn't do it right" (spoiler alert: everyone can meditate! I can’t wait to show you how)
Want a short, effective, guided practice you can use to soothe your anxiety
Are looking for evidence-based support that honors the wisdom of your mind, body, heart and spirit
Need something gentle enough for tough days, and powerful enough to create real change in your life
And you don't need any meditation experience. You don't need to sit in a cross-legged position or be able to access some calm, zen-like state. You just need to be willing to sit, to pause, to breathe, and be curious about what it’s like to just be you.
Looking for an Anxiety Therapist?
The Science Behind Breathwork and Meditation for Anxiety
When you’re anxious, breathing often becomes shallow and rapid, decreasing oxygen in the body and constricting the flow of energy in your nervous system. This turns up the volume on your anxiety and at best keeps you stressed all day, and at worst pushes you over the edge into a panic attack.
When you slow down and breathe deeply, you’re literally sending a signal of safety to your body. You’re accessing the healing power of your nervous system and basically offering yourself the equivalent of a melting hug (queue feel good hormones and decrease the stress response).
This guided anxiety meditation invites you to breathe deeply into your belly, which activates the vagus nerve, supporting your body's natural ability to relax and heal.
And in case you’re wondering, meditation isn’t just a spiritual practice, it's backed by neuroscience.
Research shows that just a few minutes of conscious breathing can:
Lower cortisol levels (your stress hormone)
Reduce heart rate and blood pressure
Increase feelings of ease and joy
Improve emotional regulation
Help you feel more safe in your body
How to Practice This Short Meditation for Anxiety Relief
All you need is 7 minutes and a place where you can sit or lie down comfortably. You don't need special equipment, a quiet house, or perfect circumstances. In fact, learning to find calm amidst the chaos of daily life is part of the practice.
Before you begin:
Find a comfortable position (sitting in a chair, on the floor, or lying down)
Let yourself be as you are in this moment, if your mind wanders, that's completely fine (and totally expected!)
Set an intention to be gentle and compassionate with yourself, no matter what arises
Remember: there's no "wrong" way to meditate
What to expect: You might feel more relaxed immediately, or you might notice an increase in the anxiety and tension you've been carrying. Both experiences are valuable. Sometimes meditation illuminates what you’ve been avoiding, guiding you towards what needs some loving attention and care.
If sitting in stillness feels activating rather than calming, that's important information too. If you struggle with a lot of intense anxiety or complex trauma symptoms, sometimes traditional meditation can feel activating or unsafe. If this happens, please pause to honor your experience and consider reaching out to one of our trauma-informed anxiety therapists who can help you find practices that feel supportive rather than overwhelming.
7-Minute Guided Anxiety Meditation
This practice is my gift to you. Please come back to this page to practice or download the track onto your phone or computer for easy access.
Ready to get started? Hit play and enjoy the practice.
After completing this meditation, take a moment to notice how you feel. Is there more ease? More calm? Perhaps a bit of a smile on your face? I want you to know that meaningful change happens 1% at a time, not all at once. Your healing happens breath by breath, and moment by moment. Please keep practicing.
When to Practice This Guided Meditation for Anxiety
One of the most common questions I hear is: "How often should I meditate?" The answer is simple: as often as you can without stressing yourself out. Even one minute a day of conscious breathing impacts your nervous system over time and is a lot more impactful than zero minutes a day.
Set a goal to practice, and know that it will be uncomfortable and you will often feel resistance. This isn’t a “you” thing, this is a “brain” thing. Your brain is wired to continue doing what it’s doing, what is known. It will resist doing something new at all costs. Practice anyway.
Some days you'll feel deeply relaxed after this meditation. Other days you might feel more aware of your anxiety, which is a sign of progress too. Awareness is always the first step toward healing.
You can practice to this 7-minute anxiety meditation:
First thing in the morning to start your day
During work breaks when you feel stressed
Before or after difficult conversations or challenging situations
In the evening to transition from doing to being
Anytime you notice your thoughts spinning or your body holding tension
When Meditation Isn't Enough
While this guided meditation for anxiety can be incredibly supportive, you might be wondering what other help is available. If you're experiencing stress or anxiety that interferes with your daily life, relationships, or overall well-being, it might be time to reach out for some extra support from one of our anxiety therapists.
At The Holistic Counseling Center, we specialize in helping people address the root causes of anxiety through a holistic, mind-body-spirit approach. Our work integrates evidence-based psychotherapy like CBT and EMDR with psychospiritual practices like breathwork, somatic therapy, and meditation.If you're ready to go deeper on your healing journey, we'd love to support you
We offer holistic therapy online in California and in-person at the following locations:
San Francisco
San Anselmo
Berkeley
El Dorado Hills
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about how we can help you move from living in survival mode to actually thriving.
Anxiety Relief is Possible
Your breath is always with you. Your body holds infinite wisdom.
No matter where you are or what you're moving through, you can always return to this simple practice of conscious breathing to find your way back home to yourself.
Despite what social media has to say, there are actually no quick fixes on the healing journey. With over 10 years of practicing as a holistic psychotherapist I’m sure about one thing: At the heart of all healing is learning how to develop a loving relationship with yourself. It's about remembering that underneath the disconnect, the ache, the confusion, there's a part of you that is always connected to Source, always at peace, always whole, and always held.
Rooting for you, always!
Kim Burris, LMFT + Founder of The Holistic Counseling Center
Meditation Transcript
For those who prefer to read along or practice without audio, here's the complete transcript of the 7-minute guided meditation for anxiety:
Hey beauties. This is Kim Burris. Go ahead and find a comfortable seat for yourself today. This is an invitation to slow down, to connect to your heart, and I'm gonna guide you through a really short, sweet, simple, effective practice for soothing yourself. And this will help if you're feeling particularly amped up, having a really active mind, feeling any symptoms of anxiety, perhaps restlessness in your heart, or any stuckness or tension in your body.
So just allow yourself to settle in and arrive here. And letting it be a process and the practice for right now, if you're finding it hard to settle in and arrive, it's all good. Give yourself some time and space here to arrive. So just noticing the surface that's supporting you, whatever you may be sitting on a chair, the ground.
Let's see if you can straighten your spine a bit and feeling the support underneath you. And from this place, just become aware of the fact of your breath.
Just noticing the texture and quality and bringing your awareness to the breath. Just watching it move in through your nose. To the back of the head all the way down into the belly. Feel your belly softening as you inhale all the way into your belly and exhaling out through your mouth today with sound, uh, inhaling through the nose.
Gentle pause, exhaling through the mouth. Continuing with this cycle on your own rhythm.
Ahhhhhhhh…
You might begin to notice some slight movement in your body wanting to sway or shake. Just letting yourself do that and continuing with this circle of breathing, so noticing the air moving through you. Cycling through you coming in through the nose with a slight pause at the top as you fill up your belly, softening the belly muscles and exhaling out through the mouth, pushing out what is stuck and in stagnant inside you.
Ahhhhhh…
Bringing in newness, fresh, clean, clear energy, and gently, softly, slowly releasing what is no longer needed. What is stuck?
Letting this be your practice right here, right now. Letting go 1% at a time. We don't change and heal all at once. It happens moment by moment. Breath by breath, see if you can just be gentle with your heart, with your belly, with your mind right now. Wherever you are at, this might be feeling relaxing and releasing for you.
Continue with your breath.
This might feel a bit uncomfortable. You might start to notice the tension you are actually holding in your body. So being gentle with whatever is arising, being gentle with whatever is arising.
Ahhhhhh, just taking another few moments here with this breath cycle,
When we allow ourselves to find stillness and just breathe, we are sending a signal to our mind and our hearts, our bodies, our nervous system, that we are safe, that it's safe. When we are breathing deeply, our body relaxes. So to whatever extent you're able to send the signal of safety and relax today, know that that is enough for wherever you're at right now.
Just another two more breaths together
As this meditation, this offering for you is coming to an end for today. Know that you can stay sitting in this space. For as long as it feels good to you, and a gentle reminder that you can come back to this breath, you can come back to your body, you could come back to yourself again and again and again.
No matter where you're at, no matter what you're moving through throughout your days, your breath is always here with you, and we can always deepen our breath and soften our belly to find a moment of peace. Which over time collects to give us longer stretches of peace and ease and comfort in ourselves and our bodies, in our hearts, and our life.
Have a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day and look forward to being with you again soon. Take care.
About Kim Burris, LMFT
Kim Burris is licensed marriage and family therapist, founder of The Holistic Counseling Center, and author of 'The First 90 Days After Birth.' Her work has been featured in Vogue, Bustle, and the Daily OM. She honors the mind-body-spirit connection and offers evidence-based psychotherapy with a heart-centered approach that helps people find relief from anxiety and self-sabotage so they can live life with more joy, freedom, and ease.
Kim and her team offer holistic therapy that honors the mind-body-spirit connection, available in-person in El Dorado Hills, Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Anselmo, CA, and online throughout California.
