10-minute letting go meditation for tired eyes, in the late afternoon

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 10 minutes of letting go for tired eyes, in the late afternoon. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tired eyes

Screens reduce blink rate sharply, and the muscles that focus at close range stay contracted. The result is strain, ache and blur by the end of the day.

It tends to show up as:

• Aching, gritty eyes after screen time
• Blurring at the end of the day
• Headaches above the eyes

Closing the eyes is the only real rest they get. A few minutes without visual input is the specific thing your eyes are short of.

Doing this after a long day

• Something physical first — shoes off, hands washed, water drunk
• Do not review the day during it
• Keep it short rather than thorough

Replaying the day in the practice just carries the day further into the evening.

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. 0:00If you're tired, you can let that be true. Tired is allowed here.
2. 0:13Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:23Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
4. 0:39Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
5. 0:55Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
6. 1:08Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
7. 1:19Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
8. 1:32Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
9. 1:45Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
10. 1:55Feel your calves, front and back.
11. 2:05Notice where the ache of staring too long lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
12. 2:24If the strained eyes after screens starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
13. 2:41Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
14. 2:53Let this be easy, if easy is available.
15. 3:04I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
16. 3:16If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
17. 3:31There's no need to try harder than this.
18. 3:42Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
19. 3:52If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
20. 4:03We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
21. 4:13A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
22. 4:24Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
23. 4:36If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
24. 4:49Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
25. 5:00Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
26. 5:13Let your body keep settling.
27. 5:22Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
28. 5:34Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
29. 5:45Remain here for a few more breaths.
30. 5:55Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
31. 6:07Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
32. 6:21No need to open your eyes yet.
33. 6:31Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
34. 6:42Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
35. 6:55A short silence. Let it be empty.
36. 7:05You are allowed to be unimpressed by the heavy lids of a screen-lit day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
37. 7:21Notice how the ache of staring too long changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
38. 7:38Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
39. 7:52Let the exhale carry a little of the strained eyes after screens with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
40. 8:11If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
41. 8:25Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
42. 8:37Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
43. 8:48We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
44. 9:02Let this one be unhurried.
45. 9:11Stand up when you're ready. The list hasn't grown while you were here.
46. 9:24Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.

Questions people ask

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