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Rest deeply6 min

5 minute meditation

A free guided reset of about six minutes: settle, breathe, rest, then come back.

Voice: Trinity (synthetic)

First time? Lie down or sit back with your head supported. Headphones are optional.

Sigh Reset4 min

Prefer to breathe? Four minutes of slow breathing with the physiological sigh. Sit up for this one, and if you feel lightheaded, stop and breathe normally.

Voice: Sedona (synthetic)About the physiological sigh

Best for
A short, complete rest when ten minutes feels like too muchThis is a guided rest, not a sleep track: you stay awake.
When to use it
Between meetings, before a call, or as a first session. Lie down or sit back somewhere that supports your head. It runs just over six minutes, a little longer than the name.
What you'll hear
  1. 0:00Arrive: lie down or sit back with your head supported, then close your eyes
  2. 0:36Breath: three deep breaths in through the nose and long breaths out through the mouth, then the breath on its own
  3. 1:39Body scan: the feet, legs and hips, then the belly and lower back
  4. 2:44Body scan: the chest and shoulders, the arms and hands, then the neck, face and scalp
  5. 3:51Rest: the whole body at once, held loosely, with longer silences
  6. 5:00Return: fingers and toes first, a stretch if you like, eyes open when you decide to
  7. 5:37A short close

How the session runs

The recording runs just over six minutes. It opens with about half a minute to settle, then three deep breaths in through the nose and long breaths out through the mouth. From about 1:40 a body scan moves from the feet up to the scalp, then comes about a minute of rest with the whole body at once. From 5:00 small movements bring you back, and it ends with a short close.

When five minutes makes sense

Between meetings, before a call, when ten minutes feels like too much, or as a first session if you have never tried guided rest. It is short enough to fit into most gaps in a day.

If you have a little longer, there are three 10-minute sessions.

How to use it

  1. Sit back or lie down. Somewhere that supports your head, or flat on a bed or the floor.
  2. Sort out your phone. Turn on do not disturb and set the volume low.
  3. Press play and follow the voice. There's nothing to get right. When your mind wanders, come back to whatever the voice is naming.
  4. When it brings you back. Stand up and have some water before you carry on.

Is five minutes enough?

The NSDR trials we know of used sessions of 10 minutes or longer, not five. So there is no tested answer for five minutes. Sources: Boukhris et al. (2024); Boukhris et al. (2026a); Boukhris et al. (2026b); Wrzeciono et al. (2024)

In two small trials of healthy, physically active adults, 10 minutes of NSDR lowered self-rated stress more than a control condition (65 people in 2024, 102 in 2026). The effect in the larger trial was small. Neither trial studied people with an anxiety disorder. Sources: Boukhris et al. (2024); Boukhris et al. (2026a)

Those were 10-minute sessions, not this one.

For the breathing option: In a 2023 Stanford trial (108 people enrolled), five minutes a day of cyclic sighing for a month raised daily positive mood and slowed breathing more than mindfulness meditation. Anxiety fell about equally in every group. Source: Balban et al. (2023), Cell Reports Medicine

Our breathing session is four minutes, not the trial's five, and it is one session, not a month of daily practice.

The research is early. Four small trials have tested NSDR itself, with mixed results. A 2026 review of 73 yoga nidra studies found significant benefits for stress and anxiety, but its authors say the low study quality means those effects likely reflect inflated estimates. Source: Ghai et al. (2026), review of 73 yoga nidra studies

Questions

What is a 5-minute guided meditation?

A short recording in which a voice leads you through each step. This one is a guided rest: a few slow breaths, a body scan and a short rest, then a return.

Is 5 minutes of meditation enough?

There is no tested answer. The NSDR trials we know of used 10 minutes or longer. Five minutes fits into most days, and the 10-minute sessions are there when you have longer.

10 minute meditation

Can I fall asleep during it?

It isn't built for sleep: it ends by bringing you back. If you doze off, that's fine. If sleep is what you want, use a sleep session.

All sleep sessions

How do I fit it into a day?

Pick a gap you already have: before a call, after lunch, between two blocks of work, or when you get home.

Is it free?

Yes. Both sessions on this page are free to play. Free to use, always a free plan.

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