Guided Meditation to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in the time of Covid-19

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With all the negative and angsty energy surrounding us and really ramping up in the past week, my aim is to help support people by reducing some of that nervous tension… there are so many different ways of doing this: humour is one way, and yoga, meditation and breathwork (pranayama) techniques are some of the other ways.

In all my yoga classes this past weekend, I started them off with these 2 simple breathing techniques:

  • Diaphragmatic Breathing - or deep belly breaths (see previous post for a video I made).

  • Extending the Exhales - inhale:exhale in the ratio of 1:2.

My students found them really helpful, so I’ve recorded a short 12-minute guided meditation that focuses purely on these breathwork techniques to help you reduce your stress levels too.

Guided Meditation to reduce Stress and Anxiety during COVID-19

The Science Behind These Techniques

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Short, shallow breaths where only the chest is rising and falling with each breath keeps us in the “fight or flight” stress response mode. As opposed to deep, belly breaths (aka diaphragmatic breathing), which has been researched to reduce stress levels and improve cognitive function.


Extending the Exhales

Similarly, extending the exhales has also been researched to reduce the stress response. It’s for this very reason that many artificial respirators in hospitals have an inhale:exhale ratio timed with longer exhales, usually starting with an inhale:exhale ratio of 1:2.


The Recording

The recording below guides you through both breathing techniques. I hope you find this guided meditation useful in the coming days or weeks as more and more of us are practicing social distancing, or working from home to ‘flatten the curve’.

At any point you start to feel like “it’s all too much”, or staying indoors with cabin fever is starting to get to you, find a comfy seat and pop this recording on. I promise you in just 10 - 12 minutes, you’ll start to feel a little bit more relaxed.

Found This Helpful?

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As I’ll be working from home more in the upcoming weeks, I’ll likely be recording more guided meditations and visualisations for my followers - to help bring more calm and rest to your busy days. Sign up to be the first to get them!