15-minute guided noting practice for low energy — in the middle of the night

About this practice

When low energy shows up in the middle of the night, this 15-minute noting session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: low energy

Low energy is a flat battery, not laziness. Pushing through it further drains reserves and produces worse work, faster.

It tends to show up as:

• Everything feeling like an effort
• Procrastinating on simple tasks
• Tiredness sitting deep in the body

A short practice will not restore the reserve, but it removes some of the tension that is draining it.

Doing this at 3am

• Do not check the time and do not turn on a light
• Stay lying down if you can — sitting up makes it harder to return to sleep
• Do not try to solve anything that arrives at this hour

Problems at 3am feel enormous because of chemistry, not because they are actually bigger. Defer them.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find.
2. 0:11If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
3. 0:26We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:40For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
5. 0:54Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
6. 1:10Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
7. 1:23Feel the tops of your thighs.
8. 1:33Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
9. 1:44Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
10. 1:57Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
11. 2:09Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
12. 2:21You have been carrying the tiredness that sits in the bones for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
13. 2:42Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the effort everything takes is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
14. 3:01Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
15. 3:14You are allowed to be unimpressed by the flat battery feeling. Indifference is a legitimate response.
16. 3:29Let the exhale carry a little of the tiredness that sits in the bones with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
17. 3:49Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
18. 3:59Take the next breath slowly.
19. 4:08Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
20. 4:21Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
21. 4:33No need to open your eyes yet.
22. 4:43Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
23. 4:55Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
24. 5:07Stay with it.
25. 5:15Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
26. 5:29Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
27. 5:40Remain here for a few more breaths.
28. 5:50Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
29. 6:02Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
30. 6:14I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
31. 6:27If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
32. 6:41Stay here a little longer.
33. 6:50Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
34. 7:03I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
35. 7:15Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
36. 7:27Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
37. 7:41No rush to move on.
38. 7:50If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
39. 8:01A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
40. 8:12A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
41. 8:27Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
42. 8:38Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
43. 8:49Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
44. 9:03Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
45. 9:16Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
46. 9:28You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
47. 9:43If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
48. 9:56Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
49. 10:08When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
50. 10:23If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
51. 10:36Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
52. 10:47Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
53. 10:57There is no correct amount of the effort everything takes to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
54. 11:15If the flat battery feeling shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
55. 11:35Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
56. 11:49If the tiredness that sits in the bones has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
57. 12:08If you catch yourself fighting the effort everything takes, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
58. 12:25Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
59. 12:38If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
60. 12:51Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
61. 13:03If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
62. 13:17Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
63. 13:28Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
64. 13:43Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
65. 13:53Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
66. 14:03Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
67. 14:18Just the breath, still.

Questions people ask

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