10-minute breathing meditation for stress, before an exam

About this practice

When stress shows up before an exam, this 10-minute breathing session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: stress

Stress is a load that does not come off. Muscle tension accumulates in the shoulders, jaw and gut, and the body stops returning to baseline between demands.

It tends to show up as:

• Shoulders sitting up near the ears
• Short temper over small things
• Waking already tired

Short practices work on the physical part of the load. They do not remove the demands, but they stop the body storing all of them.

Doing this before an exam

• Do it outside the hall, before you go in
• Do not revise during it — that raises the noise
• Aim to arrive early and steady rather than late and reading

Last-minute revision mostly raises arousal without adding recall. Arriving settled is worth more.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00There is nothing to get right here. Nothing is being scored.
2. 0:12There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:23Let the last hour go on its own. You can pick it up again afterwards.
4. 0:37We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
5. 0:51Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6. 1:05Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
7. 1:18Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
8. 1:30Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
9. 1:43Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
10. 1:55Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
11. 2:07Imagine the tension of too much on the plate as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
12. 2:26Let the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
13. 2:47If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
14. 3:00We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
15. 3:10A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
16. 3:21Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
17. 3:34Let this be easy, if easy is available.
18. 3:45I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
19. 3:57Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
20. 4:11Small efforts are the whole method.
21. 4:21I'll step back. You stay here.
22. 4:31You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
23. 4:43Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
24. 4:58Let your body keep settling.
25. 5:07Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
26. 5:20Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
27. 5:33Stay here a little longer.
28. 5:42Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
29. 5:56Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
30. 6:09Stay with it.
31. 6:17Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
32. 6:31Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
33. 6:46Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
34. 6:58Feel the weight of the load you are carrying somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
35. 7:15Notice how the tension of too much on the plate changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
36. 7:33Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
37. 7:45Notice the space around the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
38. 8:04If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
39. 8:17If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
40. 8:31Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
41. 8:43We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
42. 8:57Let the quiet do its work.
43. 9:07Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
44. 9:22Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.