Guided Meditation Scripts With Music: 10, 20 and 30 Minutes

Below are three original guided meditation scripts: a 10-minute reset, a 20-minute body scan and a 30-minute kindness practice. Each one is timed and matched to a Melobleep track of the same length, so the music starts and ends with you. Use them as they are, or change the words to suit your own voice.

The timings are a guide. Everyone reads at a different pace, so treat the pauses as the part that stretches.

How to use these scripts

Read slowly, much slower than feels natural. Most new teachers rush, and a script that looks long on the page often ends up short when spoken.

A few habits help:

• Start the music first. Let it play for 20 to 30 seconds before you speak. That gives people time to arrive.
• Treat pauses as part of the script. "(Pause.)" means a few slow breaths. "(Long pause.)" means 30 seconds or more.
• Keep the music low. Your voice should be clear on a phone speaker, with the music just underneath. Our guide on layering music under your voice covers levels.
• Let the music finish. When you stop speaking, leave the track to play out. Silence straight after the last word can feel abrupt.

If you record these, use the Voice-Ready mix of each track. It's quieter and has a little space cut out where your voice sits, so you don't have to fight the music. Our post on recording guided meditations at home covers the rest.

10-minute script: a short reset

Music: Theta Calm, 10-minute version. It's warm and hopeful rather than sleepy, which suits a midday break.

Best for: a quick reset between clients, the end of a yoga class, or a short practice for beginners.

0:00 to 1:00, arriving

Welcome. Find a position that feels comfortable. You can sit or lie down. Let your hands rest wherever they land. (Pause.)

If it feels right, close your eyes. Or let your gaze rest softly on the floor in front of you. (Pause.)

1:00 to 4:00, the breath

Now notice your breath. There's no need to change it. Just notice the air coming in, and the air going out. (Pause.)

Feel where the breath moves in your body. Maybe the chest. Maybe the belly. (Pause.)

Let the next out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath. And again. (Long pause.)

Now let the breath find its own pace. (Long pause.)

4:00 to 7:00, softening

Bring your attention to your face. Let your forehead soften. Let your jaw loosen, so your teeth part a little. (Pause.)

Let your shoulders drop away from your ears. Let your hands feel heavy. (Pause.)

Notice the places where your body is supported. The chair, the floor or the bed. Let them take a little more of your weight. (Long pause.)

7:00 to 9:00, resting

For the next couple of minutes, there will be no words. Just rest here with the breath and the music. If your mind wanders, that's fine. Simply come back to the next breath. (Two minutes of music.)

9:00 to 10:00, returning

Start to notice the room around you. The sounds. The air on your skin. (Pause.)

Take a slightly deeper breath. Wriggle your fingers and toes. (Pause.)

When you're ready, open your eyes. Take a moment before you move on with your day. (Let the music play out.)

20-minute script: a body scan

Music: Neutral Bed, 20-minute version. The sound sits wide to the left and right, so the centre stays clear for your voice. It also works on ordinary room speakers, which makes it good for groups.

Best for: group classes, evening practice and clients who carry a lot of tension.

0:00 to 3:00, settling

Welcome. Lie down if you can, or sit with your back supported. Let your arms rest by your sides. (Pause.)

Close your eyes, or lower your gaze. Take three slow breaths, at your own pace. (Long pause.)

In this practice, you'll move your attention slowly through the body. There's nothing to fix. You're simply noticing. (Pause.)

3:00 to 7:00, feet and legs

Bring your attention to your feet. Notice your toes, the soles of your feet and your heels. You might feel warmth, coolness, tingling or nothing at all. All of it is fine. (Long pause.)

Move your attention up to your ankles and calves. Notice any tightness. Let it be there. (Pause.)

Now your knees, and the long muscles of your thighs. Let your legs grow heavy. (Long pause.)

7:00 to 10:00, hips, belly and back

Bring your attention to your hips and the base of your spine. Feel the weight of your body resting down. (Pause.)

Notice your belly. Feel it rise as you breathe in, and fall as you breathe out. (Long pause.)

Now your lower back, then your upper back. Let the surface beneath you hold you. (Long pause.)

10:00 to 13:00, chest, arms and hands

Bring your attention to your chest. Notice the breath moving here. (Pause.)

Move to your shoulders. Let them soften and widen. (Pause.)

Let your attention travel down your arms, past your elbows, into your wrists and hands. Notice each finger, one by one, if you can. (Long pause.)

13:00 to 16:00, neck, face and head

Bring your attention to your neck and throat. Let them soften. (Pause.)

Notice your jaw. Let it loosen. Let your tongue rest. (Pause.)

Notice your cheeks, your eyes and the space between your eyebrows. Let the whole face relax. (Pause.)

Finally, the top of your head. (Long pause.)

16:00 to 18:00, the whole body

Now widen your attention to take in the whole body at once. From your feet to the top of your head. Breathing, resting, held. (Long pause.)

Stay here for a little while. (One minute of music.)

18:00 to 20:00, returning

Begin to deepen the breath a little. (Pause.)

Gently move your fingers and toes. Stretch if you'd like to. (Pause.)

When you're ready, roll onto one side, then slowly come up to sitting. Open your eyes in your own time. (Let the music play out.)

30-minute script: a kindness practice

Music: Alpha Heart Center, 30-minute version. Its chords swell and settle slowly, with a soft breath-like sound that moves in long cycles. It has an alpha binaural layer, so suggest headphones to anyone listening to a recording.

Best for: heart-centred classes, retreats and longer evening sessions.

0:00 to 3:00, arriving

Welcome. Find a comfortable seat, or lie down. Let your body be supported. (Pause.)

Close your eyes if that feels right. Let the sounds of the day drift into the background. (Long pause.)

3:00 to 7:00, breathing with the music

As you listen, you may notice a soft sound in the music, rising and falling like a breath. (Pause.)

If you'd like to, let your breathing follow it. In as it rises. Out as it falls. If that doesn't feel easy, just breathe in your own way. (Long pause.)

Let each breath out be an invitation to let go a little more. (Long pause.)

7:00 to 11:00, the heart space

Bring your attention to the centre of your chest. You might rest a hand there. (Pause.)

Imagine a gentle warmth here. Like sitting near a fire on a cold evening. (Pause.)

With each breath in, let the warmth grow a little. With each breath out, let it spread. (Long pause.)

11:00 to 15:00, someone who cares for you

Now bring to mind someone who cares about you. It might be a friend, a family member, a teacher or even a pet. Choose someone easy to think of. (Pause.)

Picture them in front of you, smiling. Notice how it feels to be cared for. (Long pause.)

Imagine them saying to you: may you be safe. May you be well. May you be at ease. (Long pause.)

15:00 to 19:00, kindness for yourself

Now offer those same words to yourself, silently. (Pause.)

May I be safe. (Pause.) May I be well. (Pause.) May I be at ease. (Long pause.)

If this feels hard, that's very normal. Just let the words be there, like music in the background. (Long pause.)

19:00 to 23:00, kindness for someone else

Now think of someone you know a little, but not well. Perhaps someone you pass in the street or see at the shop. (Pause.)

Offer them the same words. May you be safe. May you be well. May you be at ease. (Long pause.)

23:00 to 26:00, kindness for everyone

Now let the warmth spread wider. To the people in this room. To your street. To your town. Outwards, as far as you like. (Pause.)

May all beings be safe. May all beings be well. May all beings be at ease. (Long pause.)

26:00 to 30:00, resting and returning

Let go of the words now. Just rest in whatever feeling is here. (Two minutes of music.)

Begin to notice your body again. Your hands. Your feet. The surface beneath you. (Pause.)

Take a fuller breath. When you're ready, open your eyes, and carry a little of this warmth with you. (Let the music play out.)

Making the scripts your own

Change anything that doesn't sound like you. A script read in someone else's words often sounds stiff.

Read each one aloud a few times before you use it. Cross out lines you trip over. Add pauses where you need to breathe. Swap images for ones your clients will relate to.

You can also change the music. Any track will work if it's steady, calm and long enough to run past your script. A 60-minute sound bed fits all three lengths. If you're unsure what makes a track work under a voice, read what a music bed is, or try the five-point test in how to choose music for a guided meditation.

For more on picking lengths for your library, see the track lengths every teacher should have. And you can find every track made for spoken practice on our music for guided meditation page.

FAQs

How many words is a 10-minute guided meditation script?

Usually far fewer than you'd expect, often a few hundred words. Much of a guided meditation is silence. The 10-minute script above leaves about a third of the time for pauses and rest.

Can I use these scripts in paid classes and recordings?

Yes. Use them, change them and record them in your own voice. If you record over music, make sure the music licence covers recordings too.

Should the music start before I speak?

Yes. Twenty to thirty seconds of music first helps people settle and signals that the practice has started. It also gives you a moment to breathe before your first line.

What if my reading runs shorter than the track?

That's fine. Let the music carry on and end the practice in silence, or add a longer rest before you bring people back. A track that runs past your script is always safer than one that ends too soon.

Do I need headphones for these meditations?

No. All three tracks sound good on ordinary speakers. Alpha Heart Center has a binaural layer, so headphones give the full effect on a recording. Neutral Bed uses isochronic tones, which are made to work through speakers.