10-minute guided letting go practice for contentment — between meetings

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for contentment. A letting go session you can do between meetings. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

• Arriving without enjoying the arrival
• Immediately wanting the next thing
• Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Doing this between meetings

• Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins
• Write down the open thread from the last meeting first, then let it go
• Two minutes done beats five minutes planned

The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

• Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
• Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
• Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Quick check: is anything genuinely urgent in this exact minute? Usually the answer is no.
2. 0:14Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:29We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:43Notice the weight of your arms without moving them.
5. 0:54Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
6. 1:10Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
7. 1:23Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
8. 1:35Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
9. 1:47Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
10. 1:58Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
11. 2:11Think of the settled feeling after striving as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
12. 2:29You do not have to like the enough-ness of right now to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
13. 2:46If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
14. 2:59You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
15. 3:14I'll step back. You stay here.
16. 3:24If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
17. 3:37Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
18. 3:53Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
19. 4:03If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
20. 4:16Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
21. 4:32I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
22. 4:44Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
23. 4:57Remain here for a few more breaths.
24. 5:07Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
25. 5:20Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
26. 5:31Just the breath, still.
27. 5:40Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
28. 5:52Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
29. 6:06No rush to move on.
30. 6:15Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
31. 6:26Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
32. 6:40Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
33. 6:52Notice where the calm of not wanting more this minute lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
34. 7:11Let the settled feeling after striving be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
35. 7:31Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
36. 7:42You do not have to solve the enough-ness of right now in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
37. 8:01Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
38. 8:13Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
39. 8:26Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
40. 8:37With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
41. 8:52Stay with it.
42. 9:00When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
43. 9:13Roll your neck once, slowly, in whichever direction feels good.
44. 9:25Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

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