12-minute letting go meditation for morning energy, after a long day

About this practice

12 minutes to meet morning energy with less of a fight. A letting go practice, after a long day. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: morning energy

Morning energy depends on how you come out of sleep and when light hits your eyes, more than on the number of hours.

It tends to show up as:

Heavy eyelids at the start
Struggling out of bed
Needing to hit snooze repeatedly

Movement and breathing raise alertness without caffeine, and the effect holds better through the early hours.

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

0:00Begin with the simple fact that you got here. That already happened.
0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
0:28Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
0:41This is not a performance. Nobody is listening to how well you're doing it.
0:55Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
1:08Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
1:21Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
1:34Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
1:44Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
1:56Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
2:09If the day arriving before you are ready is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
2:27Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
2:44Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
2:55If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
3:09Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
3:25Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
3:36Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
3:47Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
4:02Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
4:14You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
4:26We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
4:41I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
4:53If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
5:07Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
5:23A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
5:34Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
5:47Let it be this simple.
5:56Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
6:07Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
6:22Just the breath, still.
6:31Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
6:43Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
6:59Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
7:09Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
7:21Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
7:34A few seconds more.
7:43Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
7:54When the heavy eyelids at the start arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
8:13Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
8:25There is no correct amount of the day arriving before you are ready to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
8:44Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
8:57Think of the wish to begin without the scramble as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
9:16If the heavy eyelids at the start shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
9:37Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
9:51If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
10:05Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
10:19Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
10:31You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
10:46Nothing changes for a moment.
10:55Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
11:10Before you move, notice one thing that's fine right now.
11:22Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Morning energy depends on how you come out of sleep and when light hits your eyes, more than on the number of hours. Movement and breathing raise alertness without caffeine, and the effect holds better through the early hours.

Where and when should I do this one?

Something physical first — shoes off, hands washed, water drunk. Replaying the day in the practice just carries the day further into the evening.

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.