10-minute guided letting go practice for test anxiety — in the office

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for test anxiety. A letting go session you can do in the office. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: test anxiety

Under exam pressure the working memory narrows. That is why material you knew yesterday can go blank: the retrieval system is not broken, it is crowded.

It tends to show up as:

• Going blank when the paper is in front of you
• Rushing and misreading questions
• Physical tension in the neck and hands

A short practice before starting lowers arousal enough for recall to work. The goal is access, not calm.

Doing this at your desk

• Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline
• You can do this with your eyes open if the office makes closing them awkward
• Unclench the jaw and drop the shoulders first, before anything else

Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

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. 0:00Start with the noise that is already in the room. We are not going to try to remove it yet.
2. 0:17Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
3. 0:33You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
4. 0:45Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
5. 0:59Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
6. 1:12Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
7. 1:25Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
8. 1:37Notice your breathing, without changing it.
9. 1:47Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
10. 2:01Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
11. 2:13the fear of forgetting everything may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
12. 2:31You do not have to like the panic before an exam to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
13. 2:48If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
14. 3:03We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
15. 3:18I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
16. 3:30If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
17. 3:44Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
18. 4:00A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
19. 4:11Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
20. 4:24With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
21. 4:39I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
22. 4:52Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
23. 5:05Keep following the air.
24. 5:14Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
25. 5:26Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
26. 5:37Take the next breath slowly.
27. 5:46Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
28. 5:58Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
29. 6:09Remain here for a few more breaths.
30. 6:19Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
31. 6:32Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
32. 6:47Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
33. 6:59If the blank feeling when the paper is in front of you has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
34. 7:19Notice the space around the fear of forgetting everything. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
35. 7:37Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
36. 7:51If the panic before an exam starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
37. 8:08Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
38. 8:21If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
39. 8:35I'll step back. You stay here.
40. 8:45Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
41. 9:00No rush to move on.
42. 9:09Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
43. 9:19Notice whether you feel any different. If not, that's also normal.
44. 9:31Let the quiet do its work.

Questions people ask

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