1. Lifestyle Medicine
  2. Relaxation and Awareness
  3. Relaxation- Virtual

Relaxation- Virtual

Virtual 

  • Mindful.org: How to Meditate
    • A free website that goes into what meditation is, why it's important, how to meditate, and the science behind it. It also includes a variety of styles in meditation and free guided audio practices.
  • Virtual 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses
  • The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Stress Relaxation Response/Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs.
  • Cory Muscara: Mindfulness teacher, speaker, and coach offering courses, talks, and guided practices
  • TED Talks & Articles | Behavior Patterns, Habit, & Mindfulness | Dr. Jud: includes several mindfulness exercises
    • Mindfulness exercises, behavior change strategies, and habit-formation tips from psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Jud Brewer.
  • The Institute of HeartMath®
    • A heart-based wellness resource to support a healthy lifestyle.
    • Biofeedback apps, such as the EMWAVE to help use your heart rate variability information to create a more coherent, relaxed state.
  • University of Minnesota website 
    • Has excellent mind-body resources, including practical tools for creating and following a healthy lifestyle and navigating a healthcare system.
  • The Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota
    • The Center provides many workshops and webinars designed to help you take charge of your health and wellbeing to attend throughout the week. The webinars are free but require registration, and the workshops have pay-what-you-can pricing.
  • Mental Health: Excellent website for patients and practitioners with information on mental illness.
  • Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
    • Dr. Kabat-Zinn is the author of the famous mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) courses that have been offered to professionals and hospitals throughout the country. These courses are meant to help people with stress, pain, and chronic illness.
  • Stress Remedy
    • A free audio relaxation exercise by Jay Winner, the author of the book “Take the Stress out of Your Life”.
  • Thich Nhat Hanh
    • A global community of mindfulness practice centers offering retreats and teachings on engaged Buddhism and the art of mindful  living, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Self-compassion meditation
    • Guided practices and exercises for self-compassion meditation by Dr. Kristin Neff
    • Noticing your own suffering and feeling compassion towards yourself will open your heart and is a different experience from constantly fighting against the conditions that are causing you suffering. Self-compassion meditation will only enhance your feelings of compassion for yourself and your fellow humans. This is useful for people who are highly critical of themselves.
  • Center for Mind-Body Medicine 
    • The Transformation Self-Care Resources - The Center for Mind-Body Medicine
  • Fingerprint for Success - 9 Mindfulness Exercises To Help You Manage COVID Stress
  • One Moment Meditation
    • The One Moment approach takes you just one minute or less each day to practice mindfulness techniques in order to reduce stress and anxiety, focus better, calm family dramas, get more productive, and be ready for anything.
    • Video: One-Moment Meditation

Guided Imagery

  • Free samples of guided imagery available here
  • Health Journeys 
    • A site with a lot of beautiful guided imagery tapes that help people deal with surgery, stress, insomnia, pain, trauma, etc.
    • We suggest the following exercises by Belleruth Napartsek: "preparation for surgery", “healthful sleep”, “relieve stress”, “ease pain”, "healing trauma". There is also a 15-minute free guided imagery exercise.
  • The Healing Mind
    • Interactive guided imagery by Dr. Marty Rossman
  • Christian-based meditation
  • Tara Brach's website
  • Mindful Eating
    • Psychologist’s website that discusses mindful eating, has books on mindful eating and offers consultations on mindful eating.
  • The Center for Mindful Eating
    • "Mindful eating helps us become aware of our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations related to eating, reconnecting us with our innate inner wisdom about hunger and satiety." The Center for Mindful Eating (TCME) is a member-supported, nonprofit international organization whose mission is to help people achieve a balanced, respectful, healthy, and joyful relationship with food and eating.
  • Self-help for anxiety and depression:
    • E-Couch is for anxiety, depression, relationship and bereavement ($27/year)
    • Site for self-help, offering free of charge cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression
    • Moodgym is for anxiety, depression, and stress ($27/year)
    • My Compass is for anxiety and depression (free)

Apps

  • Insight Timer app available for download on iTunes or Android (free) (offers instructions in multiple languages, including Spanish):
    • 100,000 free guided meditations with playlists, polyphonic bells for peaceful meditation on a timer, courses to help master lifelong skills for dealing with stress and managing anxiety levels with the help of experts, and group meditation and a daily check-in to build a history of your journey.
      • Suggested authors on Insight Timer:
      • Jack Kornfield
      • Eckhart Tolle
      • Andy Hobson
      • Tara Brach
      • Steven Pendleton
      • Elisha Goldstein
      • Centering Meditation (Christian-based)
  • Calm app
    • An app for Sleep, Meditation, and Relaxation. Includes sleep stories, exclusive music to help you focus, relax, sleep, video lessons on mindful movement and gentle stretching, and nature scenes and sounds to enjoy while relaxing, sleeping, working, or studying.
    • $69.99 billed annually or $399.99 billed once for lifetime
  • Headspace app
    • Find more joy, less stress, and the best sleep ever. It includes guided meditations, animations, articles, and videos to improve the health and happiness of the world
    • $5.83 a month Annual plan billed at $69.99/year
    • $12.99 a month Monthly plan
  • Plum village app (free)
    • A free app with guided meditations, deep relaxations, and other practices, including mindful movement and Qi Gong offered by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and his monastic community. This app offers an opportunity to experience a range of teachings directly from an Apple or Android smartphone.
  • Mindfulness app
    • The creators believe in bringing an all-embracing peace to the world. To help the world become a more thoughtful place, they help as many people on their individual journey by creating a digital tool accessible to everyone to meditate and practice mindfulness. The app offers an extensive number of meditations with world-renowned teachers, customizable settings, and daily encouragement.
    • One month free trial with a premium subscription for $9.99/month or $59.99/year
  • Breathe by Dr. Jud app (free)
    • A simple but effective one-minute breathing exercise to relax
  • Unwinding Anxiety by Dr. Jud app
    • Provides step-by-step guidance with video lessons and exercises specifically designed for individuals, a weekly call with Dr. Jud to address specific challenges on live video calls, and an expert-moderated community to receive support, guidance, and inspiration in a safe place.
    • 1-month plan is $29.99
    • 6-month plan is $139.99
    • 1-year plan is $209.99
    • There is a 30-day money-back guarantee on all three plans
  • Peloton app
    • The Peloton exercise app also offers meditation
  • Balance from Elevate Labs
    • Personalized meditation app catering towards needs such as focus and anxiety
  • Healthy Minds Program App
    • Free, science-based meditation and wellness app developed by neuroscientists and supported by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
    • Offers guided meditations, wellness tips, and mind-training practices to improve focus, resilience, and emotional well-being.
  • Mindfulness Coach (VA)
    • A free app developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD, designed to help users build a mindfulness practice.
    • Offers guided exercises, self-paced training, progress tracking, and reminders to support stress reduction and emotional well-being.

Podcasts

  • The Way Out is In
    • This podcast series is aimed at "helping us to transcend our fear and anger so that we can be more engaged in the world in a way that develops love and compassion."
  • 10% Happier
    • 10 percent happier is an invitation to  “Journey with us and learn how to train your mind to be happier over time alongside the most qualified people on the planet—including the Dalai Lama.”

Selected articles

Other Meditation Resources

relaxation and awareness

Last Updated
02/01/2023