10-minute letting go meditation for feeling not good enough, on the train

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for feeling not good enough. A letting go session you can do on the train. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: feeling not good enough

This feeling is comparison-driven. The mind collects evidence against you and discards the rest, so the ledger never balances.

It tends to show up as:

• Measuring yourself against everyone visible
• Effort feeling insufficient
• A persistent sense of falling short

You cannot win the ledger. Stepping out of measuring entirely for a few minutes is more useful than winning the argument.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

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. 0:00Then find the nearest sound. It's probably your own breathing.
2. 0:12We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
3. 0:27Notice the weight of your arms without moving them.
4. 0:38There's a difference between relaxing and stopping. We're aiming for the second one, gently.
5. 0:52Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
6. 1:06Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
7. 1:19Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
8. 1:31Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
9. 1:43Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
10. 1:53Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
11. 2:04You have been carrying the evidence your mind collects against you for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
12. 2:25Notice where the ache of falling short lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
13. 2:43If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
14. 2:56You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
15. 3:11Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
16. 3:22Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
17. 3:34Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
18. 3:50Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
19. 4:02If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
20. 4:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
21. 4:30Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
22. 4:41Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
23. 4:52Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
24. 5:03Just the breath, still.
25. 5:12Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
26. 5:23Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
27. 5:35Keep following the air.
28. 5:44Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
29. 5:56Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
30. 6:07No rush to move on.
31. 6:16Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
32. 6:28Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
33. 6:41Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
34. 6:52When the comparison with everyone else presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
35. 7:11Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
36. 7:28Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
37. 7:43Picture the ache of falling short as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
38. 8:02If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
39. 8:16If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
40. 8:30I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
41. 8:42Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
42. 8:58Stay here a little longer.
43. 9:07Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
44. 9:17Take your time opening your eyes. Nothing is waiting urgently.
45. 9:29Stay with it.

Questions people ask

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