10-minute letting go meditation for physical tension, early on

About this practice

For the times early on when physical tension takes up more room than you would like — 10 minutes, letting go. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: physical tension

The body stores effort that the mind has finished with. Tension persists in whichever region carries your particular habit — neck, jaw, back or gut.

It tends to show up as:

• A knot between the shoulders
• A clenched jaw you had not noticed
• Ache that appears after stressful days

Tension needs to be noticed before it can release. Scanning it deliberately is not the same as being told to relax.

Doing this in the morning

• Do it before checking your phone — the first minutes set the tone for the rest
• Sitting up is better than lying down, or you will drift back to sleep
• Light on your face helps more than any practice

Mornings can become a performance of productive habits. This one does not need to be done well.

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. 0:00Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point.
2. 0:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:30Imagine your thoughts as traffic on a road you're standing beside. You don't have to flag any of it down.
4. 0:47Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 1:00Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
6. 1:14Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
7. 1:27Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
8. 1:40Feel the tops of your thighs.
9. 1:50Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
10. 2:01Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
11. 2:11Whatever the clenched jaw you forgot about is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
12. 2:27If the body holding the day starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
13. 2:44Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
14. 2:57With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
15. 3:12A short silence. Let it be empty.
16. 3:22You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
17. 3:34Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
18. 3:50Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
19. 4:01Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
20. 4:13We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
21. 4:28Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
22. 4:40Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
23. 4:54Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
24. 5:10Just the breath, still.
25. 5:19Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
26. 5:30Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
27. 5:42Stay here a little longer.
28. 5:51Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
29. 6:04Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
30. 6:15Let your body keep settling.
31. 6:24Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
32. 6:36Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
33. 6:50A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
34. 7:01Notice how the knot between your shoulders changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
35. 7:18Give the clenched jaw you forgot about a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
36. 7:36Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
37. 7:52You do not have to like the body holding the day to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
38. 8:09If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
39. 8:23If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
40. 8:35Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
41. 8:47Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
42. 9:03Let the pause stretch out.
43. 9:12Let your jaw, shoulders and hands be loose as you finish.
44. 9:24Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.

Questions people ask

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