10 Guided-Meditation Videos by Latinas to Help Us Cope With Stress and Anxiety
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In the past few months, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, videos of violence against Black individuals — from police killings to attacks against protesters — have flooded social media, and unemployment rates have left countless people across the country experiencing income insecurity and displacement. As a result of these layered crises, our communities are undergoing communal trauma. And considering many of us remain sheltering in place, we are confronting the rising levels of stress, anxiety, and depression that emerge from upheaval.
Hoping to help, several Latina therapists, activists, and healers are using their social media platforms to offer free guided meditations — in both Spanish and English — to those of us searching for ways to cope.
In recent years, the ancient practice of meditation has grown in popularity, and with its far-reaching benefits, it's no wonder why. Numerous studies have shown evidence that meditation can reduce stress, control anxiety, promote emotional health, improve sleep, enhance self-awareness, and generate compassion, among so many other mental, emotional, and physical advantages.
From one-minute pick-me-ups to 30-minute reflections, these meditations help us reconnect with ourselves, find calmness, and discover ways to be kind and gentle with our hearts at a time when wellness and peace of mind can seem impossible. Ahead, scroll through a few bilingual guided meditations and sound baths to help you de-stress and nurture self-love.
8-Minute Meditation and Sound Bath to Tap Into Our Inner Child
This mediation by New York-based clinical psychologist Mariel Buquè, Ph.D, helps us return to our inner child, allowing us to regain a sense of safety, freedom, and groundedness. Buquè accompanies the meditation with a sound bath, an ancient practice that induces sound vibrations known to have therapeutic effects.
13-Minute Meditation For Activists
For those of us who have been protesting in the streets, creating media around racial justice, or resisting anti-Blackness in other ways, Móni Socarrás's soothing Spanish-language meditation is highly recommended. Through the 13-minute practice, Socarrás, a community organizer for the Orlando, FL-based queer and racial justice group QLatinx, helps activists fighting injustice to take some time to center and care for themselves.
A 30-Day Guided Meditation Series
Back in March, at the start of the nationwide lockdown, Usui Reiki master and teacher Zayda Rivera started a 30-day virtual meditation gathering aimed at raising frequencies, easing minds, and calming hearts amid all the uncertainty. The guided meditations, each one about 12 to 15 minutes long, are ideal for those looking to create a meditation routine.
35-Minute Meditation For Collective Healing
The Brujas of Brooklyn have also held many Instagram Lives throughout the pandemic, performing eclipse rituals and hosting open conversations about anti-Blackness. But in this particular video, the Dominican twin sisters help us heal and cope collectively through a Spanish-language guided meditation.
2-Minute Guided Heart Meditation
Keeping it short yet still powerfully effective, New York-based therapist Liliana Doyon shares a two-minute guided heart meditation, perfect for reminding us of our beauty, strength, and sacredness.
22-Minute Practice to Free Yourself From Your Mind and Emotions
In Puerto Rico, clinical psychologist and astrologer Veroshk Williams has also been sharing guided meditations along with her astrological forecasts and Q&A sessions. In this Spanish-language, 22-minute practice, she helps us free ourselves from the limiting thoughts and emotions that might be carrying us.
6-Minute Sound Bath For Relaxation
Over in Las Vegas, therapist Desiree Vargas shared a six-minute sound bath that can help us take deep breaths, find relaxation, and calm anxiety each time we watch it.
30-Minute Meditation on Listening and Connecting With Our Inner Selves
Christine Gutiérrez is a Puerto Rican author and therapist who often speaks about wellness in the Latina community and leads healing practices at national events. Last month, she made some of her practices available to us through a 30-minute virtual meditation in Spanish that works toward helping us learn to listen and connect to our soul's voice.
Calming 1-Minute Guided Meditation
For those of us crunched for time and desperately needing to pull ourselves together, Asatta Jones's one-minute guided meditation can help. The Orlando, FL-based yoga therapist, podcast host, and voice actor's soothing tone and breathwork can help create a tranquil space wherever you are.
14-Minute Meditation to Protect and Project Our Hearts
In Los Angeles, Karen Mendoza is a KRI-certified Kundalini yoga teacher helping women heal through breath meditation. As such, her two-part guided meditation on protection and projection uses inhaling and exhaling techniques as well as mantras to help us safeguard our hearts and send light onto those we come across.