12-minute letting go meditation for mindfulness, on a lunch break

About this practice

A 12-minute letting go session for mindfulness, on a lunch break. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: mindfulness

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making.

It tends to show up as:

Missing conversations while composing replies
Arriving somewhere with no memory of the walk
Eating without tasting

Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Doing this at lunch

Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

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

0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
0:13Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
0:29Let your attention drop to the level of your shoulders and stay there a moment.
0:43Let the rhythm of your breathing set the pace, not the words.
0:56Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
1:07Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
1:18Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
1:31Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
1:41Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
1:52Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
2:04There is no correct amount of the present moment you keep leaving to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
2:23This is not the last time the here-and-now your attention skips will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
2:42Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
2:55If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
3:09We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
3:24I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
3:36If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
3:49Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
4:05I'll step back. You stay here.
4:15Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
4:26With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
4:41No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
4:52Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
5:05Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
5:20Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
5:31If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
5:45Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
5:57Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
6:12Take the next breath slowly.
6:21Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
6:33Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
6:46Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
6:56Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
7:08Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
7:19Let your body keep settling.
7:28Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
7:39Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
7:55Remain here for a few more breaths.
8:05Feel the tops of your thighs.
8:15Let the ordinary present tense be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
8:34A short silence. Let it be empty.
8:44Whatever the present moment you keep leaving is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
9:00Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
9:14Picture the here-and-now your attention skips as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
9:33Imagine softening the edges of the ordinary present tense. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
9:50Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
10:03If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
10:16Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
10:30Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
10:40You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
10:55Stay with it.
11:03Come back to the room through your senses, one at a time.
11:16When you're ready, look around properly.
11:26Let it be this simple.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making. Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Where and when should I do this one?

Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion. A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

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.