12-minute softening meditation for a racing mind, before a presentation

About this practice

12 minutes to meet a racing mind with less of a fight. A softening practice, before a presentation. 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 before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Put a hand on your chest for a moment if that feels steadying. Or don't. Both are allowed.
2. 0:16Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:26Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
4. 0:41Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:54Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
6. 1:08Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7. 1:23Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
8. 1:34Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
9. 1:46Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
10. 1:58Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
11. 2:09You are allowed to be unimpressed by one thought chasing the next. Indifference is a legitimate response.
12. 2:24Imagine thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
13. 2:43Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
14. 2:57Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
15. 3:11We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
16. 3:25No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
17. 3:36If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
18. 3:49You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
19. 4:02I'll step back. You stay here.
20. 4:12Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
21. 4:23There's no need to try harder than this.
22. 4:34Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
23. 4:45Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
24. 4:59We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
25. 5:09Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
26. 5:20If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
27. 5:31Nothing here needs to be efficient.
28. 5:41Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
29. 5:53Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
30. 6:04Keep following the air.
31. 6:13Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
32. 6:25Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
33. 6:37Just the breath, still.
34. 6:46Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
35. 6:57Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
36. 7:10Let the quiet do its work.
37. 7:20Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
38. 7:34Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
39. 7:47Let the pause stretch out.
40. 7:56Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
41. 8:07When the mind running ahead of you presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
42. 8:27I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
43. 8:39one thought chasing the next may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
44. 8:57Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
45. 9:08You do not have to win against thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
46. 9:27Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the mind running ahead of you is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
47. 9:46Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
48. 9:59If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
49. 10:12If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
50. 10:26Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
51. 10:37Let this be easy, if easy is available.
52. 10:48Stay with it.
53. 10:56Let the quiet end on its own rather than cutting it off.
54. 11:09Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.
55. 11:23Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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