05:24

5 Minute Anxiety Relief Meditation

by Liz Burkholder

Rated
4.5
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
5.7k

This is a 5 minute "emergency" meditation for anxiety reduction. It will help shift your mind/body out of the "fight or flight" stress mode, into a calm, relaxed state. It will help switch your nervous system from a sympathetic (stressful) state into a parasympathteic (peaceful) state, thus helping to lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones (e.g., cortisol, adrenaline). Give yourself the gift of a quick mind/body "reset."

AnxietyMeditationCalmRelaxationStressBreathingResetDeep BreathingBreath HoldingCalm Nervous SystemMantrasMantra RepetitionsFight Or Flight Reduction

Transcript

Meditation done by Liz Burkholder.

Begin by settling in,

Getting comfortable,

Either lying or sitting.

And just close your eyes.

We're going to drop into a place of relaxation.

Take in a deep breath in your nose.

Hold it.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Release.

Hold,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe in again in your nose.

Hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Release.

Beginning to feel relaxed.

Breathing in relaxation,

Breathing out any cares and worries.

Just for these few moments,

Letting go of all of your cares and all of your worries.

Breathe in your nose.

Hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Release.

Feeling a wave of relaxation washing over you from your head all the way to your toes.

Repeating the mantra in your head,

Calm and relaxed.

Calm and relaxed.

Breathe in.

Hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out.

Letting go.

Allowing yourself a few minutes to just relax.

Relaxing the mind,

Relaxing the body,

Calming the nervous system,

Restoring yourself to a calm state.

Breathe in.

Hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out.

Knowing and trusting that we are calming the nervous system,

Settling back into a natural state of peace.

You have nowhere to be at this moment.

Nothing to do at this moment except just be and relax.

And as thoughts come into your mind,

Just acknowledge them and then go back to the words,

Calm and relaxed.

In your mind,

Repeating this mantra over and over,

Slowly,

Calm and relaxed.

Calm and relaxed.

Taking a deep breath in your nose.

Holding,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Release.

Shifting out of the fight or flight stress mode and into a calm and relaxed,

Peaceful state.

Just continue to breathe normally,

Repeating the words in your mind,

Calm and relaxed.

Calm and relaxed.

When you are ready,

Open your eyes,

Coming back to the room,

Feeling calm and relaxed.

Meet your Teacher

Liz BurkholderCharlotte, NC, USA

4.5 (317)

Recent Reviews

Marisol

November 4, 2025

Simple and clear:)

Angel

August 2, 2022

This was needed way more than I thought. Thank you for reminding me of the fight or flight.

Mike

March 27, 2021

An incredibly good session, specifically helpful for anxiety but a brilliant meditation overall! Thank you :)

Momo

November 28, 2020

Thank you! This was really relaxing.

Leslie

March 9, 2020

Thank you for offering this. I wasn’t having an anxiety attack. I like to have helpful meditations ready for those moments. I found the teacher’s voice soothing and the background music pleasant. I appreciated the manta and the reminder to take a pause while breathing. πŸ’œ

Margann

February 20, 2020

Liz! So overjoyed to find you on Insight Timer. This was a lovely meditation experience - simple and soothing. So helpful during a very stressful time. I highly recommend! Thank you and namaste πŸ’œπŸ™.

Nat

November 9, 2019

Life-saving - in my case literally. Thank you for this offering and may you have ease of wellbeing, always!

Sachin

September 30, 2019

A Devine experience

Iuri

January 18, 2019

Really helpful I woke up stressed and with the body shaking now I'm relaxed and the body shaking just faded. 😊 Calm and relax πŸ˜‰

Tierney

August 6, 2018

This was very relaxing :)

Mari

July 29, 2018

Great background music and nicely paced

joss

July 11, 2018

Thank You, Namaste

Madi

July 9, 2018

lovely!!! Thank you

Debbie

July 6, 2018

Perfect short meditation for quickly getting back to your breath and the mantra calm and relaxed. Lovely voice and music. ❀️

Petal

July 5, 2018

Music and voice so soothing... need to find a longer version. Thank you πŸ™πŸ»

Lori

July 5, 2018

Very nice meditation but it ends abruptly. Thank you! πŸ™πŸ»

Lilou

July 5, 2018

Thank you so much for this beautiful meditation :)

Cris

July 4, 2018

Good recenter on breath, liked music and chimes

josie

July 4, 2018

Beautiful thank you

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Β© 2025 Liz Burkholder. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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