12-minute letting go meditation for contentment

About this practice

When contentment shows up in a waiting room, this 12-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

Arriving without enjoying the arrival
Immediately wanting the next thing
Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

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 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

0:00Sit however you were already sitting. You don't have to straighten up first.
0:13We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
0:28Let the last hour go on its own. You can pick it up again afterwards.
0:42If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
0:56Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
1:07Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
1:20Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
1:34Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
1:46Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
1:58Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
2:09If the enough-ness of right now is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
2:26You have been carrying the calm of not wanting more this minute for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
2:48Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
3:00If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
3:14Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
3:30A short silence. Let it be empty.
3:40Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
3:53Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
4:09Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
4:20If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
4:33Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
4:48I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
5:00Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
5:11You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
5:26Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
5:37If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
5:51Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
6:03Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6:17Take the next breath slowly.
6:26Feel your calves, front and back.
6:36Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
6:49Let this one be unhurried.
6:58Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
7:08Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
7:21Keep following the air.
7:30Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
7:44Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
7:55No need to open your eyes yet.
8:05Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
8:17Nothing about the settled feeling after striving has to be explained or justified in this room.
8:32Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
8:44This is not the last time the enough-ness of right now will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
9:03Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
9:17Notice where the calm of not wanting more this minute lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
9:36You do not have to win against the settled feeling after striving. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
9:54Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
10:06Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
10:18Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
10:30A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
10:41With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
10:56Let it be this simple.
11:05Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.
11:17Take a moment to notice you did this for yourself. That's not nothing.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses. Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Where and when should I do this one?

You can do this with your eyes open and your hands where they are. Waiting feeds the dread it is meant to relieve. Having something specific to do with the time is the useful part.

What actually happens during the 12 minutes?

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.

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