15-minute guided softening practice for low energy — in the air

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for low energy. A softening session you can do in the air. 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 on a plane

• Use headphones, and keep the seatbelt on
• Bring a layer — being cold works against settling
• Skip alcohol; it makes the alertness worse

Cabin noise is constant and will mask the audio more than you expect. Try the headphones before you settle in.

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. 0:00Let your eyes soften. Not closed, just less busy.
2. 0:11If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
3. 0:26Imagine your thoughts as traffic on a road you're standing beside. You don't have to flag any of it down.
4. 0:43Notice your own pulse somewhere. Wrist, throat, wherever you can find it.
5. 0:56Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
6. 1:09Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
7. 1:21Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
8. 1:34Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
9. 1:45Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
10. 1:57Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
11. 2:10Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
12. 2:23If the tiredness that sits in the bones is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
13. 2:41This is not the last time the effort everything takes will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
14. 3:00Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
15. 3:13There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
16. 3:31Let the tiredness that sits in the bones be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
17. 3:52Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
18. 4:05Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
19. 4:15Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
20. 4:26Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
21. 4:37Let this one be unhurried.
22. 4:46Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
23. 5:00Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
24. 5:14Stay here a little longer.
25. 5:23Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
26. 5:37Feel your calves, front and back.
27. 5:47Stay with it.
28. 5:55Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
29. 6:06Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
30. 6:18A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
31. 6:29Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
32. 6:40Just the breath, still.
33. 6:49Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
34. 7:02Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
35. 7:13Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
36. 7:25Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
37. 7:38Let the quiet do its work.
38. 7:48Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
39. 8:00Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
40. 8:11With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
41. 8:26If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
42. 8:40Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
43. 8:52Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
44. 9:06You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
45. 9:18I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
46. 9:31Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
47. 9:45If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
48. 9:58I'll step back. You stay here.
49. 10:08We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
50. 10:22If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
51. 10:36Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
52. 10:47I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
53. 10:59Let the exhale carry a little of the effort everything takes with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
54. 11:18Notice the space around the flat battery feeling. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
55. 11:36Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
56. 11:50You do not have to like the tiredness that sits in the bones to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
57. 12:08When the effort everything takes presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
58. 12:27Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
59. 12:38Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
60. 12:52If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
61. 13:05Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
62. 13:18Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
63. 13:30Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
64. 13:43No rush to move on.
65. 13:52Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
66. 14:07Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.

Questions people ask

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