12-minute guided breathing practice for back pain and tension — during the evening wind-down

About this practice

12 minutes to meet back pain and tension with less of a fight. A breathing practice, during the evening wind-down. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: back pain and tension

Much of daily back discomfort is muscular load rather than structural damage — muscles holding a position long after they should have let go.

It tends to show up as:

• Lower back ache after sitting
• Stiffness on standing
• Pain that improves when moving

Attention moves into the back rather than away from it. Being willing to feel it is usually where release starts.

Doing this in the evening

• Dim the lights first — bright light works against the point
• Put the phone in another room
• Keep it slow rather than interesting

Something too engaging will wake you up rather than wind you down.

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. 0:00Let your forehead smooth out. Most of us hold a small frown there all day.
2. 0:14If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
3. 0:30For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:44Imagine your thoughts as traffic on a road you're standing beside. You don't have to flag any of it down.
5. 1:01Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
6. 1:15Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
7. 1:28Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
8. 1:40Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
9. 1:53Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
10. 2:07Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
11. 2:19Imagine softening the edges of the muscles holding on all day. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
12. 2:37You do not have to win against the stiffness from sitting. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
13. 2:54Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
14. 3:07If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
15. 3:20There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
16. 3:35Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
17. 3:46Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
18. 4:00Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
19. 4:16No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
20. 4:27Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
21. 4:39Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
22. 4:55Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
23. 5:07If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
24. 5:20Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
25. 5:34Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
26. 5:46If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
27. 6:01Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
28. 6:13Let your body keep settling.
29. 6:22Notice your breathing, without changing it.
30. 6:32Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
31. 6:46Let the quiet do its work.
32. 6:56Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
33. 7:09Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
34. 7:22Let the pause stretch out.
35. 7:31Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
36. 7:42Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
37. 7:53Let this one be unhurried.
38. 8:02Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
39. 8:15There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
40. 8:33A short silence. Let it be empty.
41. 8:43the muscles holding on all day may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
42. 9:01Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
43. 9:14If you catch yourself fighting the stiffness from sitting, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
44. 9:31You do not have to solve the ache in the lower back in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
45. 9:51Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
46. 10:07Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
47. 10:20Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
48. 10:33A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
49. 10:44Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
50. 10:58No need to open your eyes yet.
51. 11:08Let the next breath be the start of the rest of the day.
52. 11:21Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.

Questions people ask

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