(Photo: Pavel Danilyuk | Pexels)
Published January 20, 2026 11:05AM
Let’s be honest: people place a little too much pressure on mornings. You’ve heard the advice. “Develop a morning routine!” “Set intentions!” “The quality of your entire day hinges upon what you do immediately after waking up!” It’s not that this is bad advice. It’s just a little perfectionist-y. And chances are, your real life mornings don’t feel as picturesque as Cinderella waking up and having a family of bluebirds bathe and dress her.
In reality, you probably spend your mornings trying to mentally plan out the day or stressing about things that haven’t even happened yet. And maybe finding time for self-care things feels as though it can only be tacked on to the end of the day, when your body is a knot of tension and your mind is equally twisty from all the mental hurdles you jumped through.
But it turns out, there’s a more doable medium between a perfect morning and a stressful one. Think of your energy like a boomerang—you have to pull back before you can move forward. That’s exactly the effect of these morning meditations on YouTube. And they take only a few minutes to entirely shift your mood.
5 Best Morning Meditations on YouTube to Start Your Day
We took the guesswork out of finding the most motivating morning meditations on YouTube. All you have to do is press play.
1. 5-Minute Guided Morning Meditation with Positive Affirmations | Yoga with Kassandra
Mornings are kinda like blank slates. Since you can (theoretically) fill them with whatever you like, why not consider these self-empowering, creativity-boosting affirmations by Kassandra Reinhardt? As ambient sounds play in the background, Reinhardt speaks truths you want to manifest in your life.
Commenters appreciate the uniqueness of these affirmations including, “My confidence inspires others,” and “I allow myself to play and be silly,” which can inspire you to embrace qualities you might’ve otherwise ignored. Reinhardt pauses for about 10 seconds in between speaking so you can let these affirmations really sink in.
2. Morning Wake Up Meditation | Yoga With Adriene
Most of us let our daily to-do lists dictate the course of our days—and hope our bodies and minds can keep pace. Instead, what if you let your inner state determine everything else? That’s the type of energy this 5-minute morning meditation by Adriene Mischler taps.
Mischler guides you in an easy-paced body scan during which you relax your fingers, jaw, and forehead. Then you slowly bring that awareness to your surroundings and, eventually, carry the calm you established in these 5 minutes into the rest of your day.
3. 5-Minute Guided Morning Meditation for Positive Energy | Lavendaire
There’s a reason people talk about starting the day with gratitude. When you think of the things in life that make you happy, positive feelings tend to follow. That’s what this 5-minute meditation by Lavendaire guides you through, followed by a visualization of “loving energy” moving through your body. The result? You put your energy into cultivating a calming, can-do mindset instead of stressing about uncontrollables.
4. 15-Minute Guided Morning Meditation For A Perfect Day | Boho Beautiful Yoga
You might consider this morning meditation part motivation, part meditation. Yoga instructor Mark Spicoluk speaks in a calming voice—first about why taking time to tap into your innermost self is invaluable. Before he pauses to give your mind several minutes of rest, Spicoluk says that it’s the positive and negative aspects of life that serve us. “For your life is ultimately more beautiful, for all of the shades of color that create it.”
Spend a little extra time in the morning with this 15-minute session set to the calming sounds of ocean waves, which will leave you feeling grounded in the face of whatever the day brings.
5. 20-Minute Morning Meditation for Vagus Nerve | Chibs Okereke Meditations
That burst of energy you sometimes feel in the morning? It can be fueled by anxiety, says Okereke. But you have the choice to let stress lead the way or press pause and reach for “clarity instead of chaos,” which is exactly what Okereke channels in this 20-minute morning meditation. There’s no music or soundscapes. Only Okereke’s “golden” voice, as one commenter describes it, which helps you sink more deeply into the experience of complete silence in between occasional words.
Okereke draws your attention to your breath and body while reassuring you that a wandering mind is completely normal. “If you’re wondering whether or not you’re doing it right, just take the pressure off yourself. And simply take a deep breath in and a slow breath out,” says Okereke. These are words you can also carry with you the rest of your day.
