Guided Meditations to Bring Your Brain Back Online
When was the last time you felt completely overwhelmed by a difficult emotion?
Many of us have experienced moments where emotions like stress, anger, or anxiety feel all-consuming. What’s important to know is that this isn’t just a feeling—it’s also happening in the brain.
When we’re emotionally triggered, the part of our brain responsible for rational thinking—the prefrontal cortex—can go temporarily offline. This makes it harder to think clearly, make decisions, or regulate how we respond. In these moments, it’s not that we’re weak or overreacting—it’s that our brain is doing exactly what it’s wired to do under stress.
So, how do we gently bring ourselves back online?
Simple practices like physical movement, mindfulness, or connecting with someone we trust can help re-engage the prefrontal cortex and restore our sense of calm and control.
If you're looking for a place to start, I’ve included some of my favourite guided meditation tracks (free and accessible) that have helped me and others reset during emotional overwhelm. The next time you’re feeling flooded, I invite you to try one—and notice how you feel.
Meditation tracks to help with emotional overwhelm (from shortest to longest in duration)
Grounding meditation for anxiety by S. C. Sanborn (4 minutes)
This track incorporates a well-known 54321 method to coming back into the present moment by focussing on our senses. Short, sweet, and effective.
5 minutes to presence by Bonnie Brazeau (5 minutes)
This meditation focusses on the breath as a way to continually bring our mind back from racing thoughts. I find this one extra calming and compassionate.
Letting go of stress and anxiety by Tara Brach (5 minutes)
Tara Brach is a world renowned psychologist and meditation teacher, and this short meditation combines a scan of body sensations with a focus on the breath and an acceptance of whatever we are feeling in the moment.
How to relax, part 1 by Andrew Johnson (9 minutes)
This track takes you through a calming progression of tensing and relaxing different muscles groups throughout your body, and it is also very helpful for getting ready for bed for those of us challenges around sleep. Andrew has a very calming voice and I love his accent :).
Settle a busy mind by Tomek Wyczesany, Ph. D (19 minutes)
This slightly longer meditation helps us to notice what we are feeling, and gently bring our minds back to the present moment when we notice we are spinning into racing thoughts and anxiety.
I will continue to add meditation tracks to this list. I would love to hear which meditation tracks that have helped you - please feel free to reach out to me at danielle@daniellesheahanpsychotherapy.com and I’d be happy to post your favourites here as well.
