15-minute letting go meditation for a racing mind, in the queue

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 15 minutes of letting go for a racing mind, in the queue. A guided session of about 15 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 in a waiting room

• You can do this with your eyes open and your hands where they are
• Nothing here needs to look like a meditation
• Aim for steadiness rather than calm

Waiting feeds the dread it is meant to relieve. Having something specific to do with the time is the useful part.

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

1. 0:00Let your eyes soften. Not closed, just less busy.
2. 0:11We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
3. 0:26Everything that happens in the next few minutes is allowed to happen.
4. 0:39There's a difference between relaxing and stopping. We're aiming for the second one, gently.
5. 0:53Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
6. 1:06Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
7. 1:20Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
8. 1:32Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
9. 1:44Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
10. 1:56Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
11. 2:08Feel the tops of your thighs.
12. 2:18Notice where the mind running ahead of you lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
13. 2:37If one thought chasing the next is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
14. 2:54Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
15. 3:09thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
16. 3:28Notice how the mind running ahead of you changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
17. 3:45Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
18. 3:56Take the next breath slowly.
19. 4:05Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
20. 4:17Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
21. 4:29Remain here for a few more breaths.
22. 4:39Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
23. 4:52Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
24. 5:03Let your body keep settling.
25. 5:12Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
26. 5:25Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
27. 5:36Let the quiet do its work.
28. 5:46Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
29. 5:59Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
30. 6:13Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
31. 6:24You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
32. 6:36Let the pause stretch out.
33. 6:45Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
34. 6:56I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
35. 7:08Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
36. 7:21Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
37. 7:35Let this one be unhurried.
38. 7:44If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
39. 7:57Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
40. 8:09You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
41. 8:24Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
42. 8:35Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
43. 8:46Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
44. 9:01If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
45. 9:15I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
46. 9:28Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
47. 9:44If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
48. 9:57A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
49. 10:08With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
50. 10:23Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
51. 10:35Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
52. 10:49I'll step back. You stay here.
53. 10:59You have been carrying one thought chasing the next for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
54. 11:19If you catch yourself fighting thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
55. 11:38Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
56. 11:52Each time your mind hands you the mind running ahead of you, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
57. 12:12There is no correct amount of one thought chasing the next to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
58. 12:30Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
59. 12:44If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
60. 12:55Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
61. 13:07If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
62. 13:20Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
63. 13:32Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
64. 13:48A few seconds more.
65. 13:57Let your breathing go back to whatever it does when nobody is watching.
66. 14:10Let your shoulders come back up to their usual place, if they want to.

Questions people ask

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