12-minute guided breathing practice for a racing mind — before an appointment

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for a racing mind. A breathing session you can do before an appointment. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: a racing mind

A racing mind is not a thinking problem, it is an arousal problem. When the body is revved up, the brain produces thoughts at the same speed, and each one feels urgent.

It tends to show up as:

• Thoughts arriving faster than you can finish them
• Lying awake running through the day
• Losing your place mid-sentence

Trying to stop the thoughts adds fuel. Narrowing attention to one physical sensation gives the mind a slower thing to hold.

Doing this in a waiting room

• You can do this with your eyes open and your hands where they are
• Nothing here needs to look like a meditation
• Aim for steadiness rather than calm

Waiting feeds the dread it is meant to relieve. Having something specific to do with the time is the useful part.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find.
2. 0:11If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
3. 0:24You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
4. 0:36There's no correct speed. Slower isn't better. Steadier is the only aim.
5. 0:49Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
6. 1:00Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
7. 1:14Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
8. 1:27Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
9. 1:40Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
10. 1:52Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
11. 2:04You do not have to like one thought chasing the next to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
12. 2:21thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
13. 2:40Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
14. 2:56Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
15. 3:08There's no need to try harder than this.
16. 3:19Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
17. 3:30If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
18. 3:41We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
19. 3:55Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
20. 4:06If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
21. 4:19We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
22. 4:29I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
23. 4:41You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
24. 4:53Small efforts are the whole method.
25. 5:03I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
26. 5:16If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
27. 5:30You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
28. 5:43No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
29. 5:54Stay with it.
30. 6:02Notice your breathing, without changing it.
31. 6:12Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
32. 6:25Keep following the air.
33. 6:34Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
34. 6:46Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
35. 7:00Let your body keep settling.
36. 7:09Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
37. 7:21Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
38. 7:34Take the next breath slowly.
39. 7:43Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
40. 7:54Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
41. 8:05Nothing changes for a moment.
42. 8:14Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
43. 8:26Whatever the mind running ahead of you is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
44. 8:42Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
45. 8:53You are allowed to be unimpressed by one thought chasing the next. Indifference is a legitimate response.
46. 9:08Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
47. 9:21There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
48. 9:39Notice where the mind running ahead of you lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
49. 9:58Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
50. 10:12If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
51. 10:24If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
52. 10:38I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
53. 10:50Nothing here needs to be efficient.
54. 11:00No rush to move on.
55. 11:09Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
56. 11:19Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.

Questions people ask

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