20-minute guided body scan practice for low energy — before bedtime

About this practice

20 minutes to meet low energy with less of a fight. A body scan practice, before bedtime. A guided session of about 20 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 before sleep

• Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach
• Do it in bed if that helps you stay there
• Let yourself fall asleep rather than finishing it

Checking anything afterwards undoes most of it. Let this be the last thing.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Sit however you were already sitting. You don't have to straighten up first.
2. 0:13Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:23Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
4. 0:39Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:52Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
6. 1:05Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
7. 1:17Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
8. 1:28Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
9. 1:38Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
10. 1:50Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
11. 2:02Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
12. 2:14Notice the space around the flat battery feeling. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
13. 2:32When the tiredness that sits in the bones arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
14. 2:52Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
15. 3:03If you catch yourself fighting the effort everything takes, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
16. 3:20There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
17. 3:38Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
18. 3:51If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
19. 4:02We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
20. 4:12Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
21. 4:23Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
22. 4:34Nothing here needs to be efficient.
23. 4:44I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
24. 4:57If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
25. 5:11Let this be easy, if easy is available.
26. 5:22Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
27. 5:33Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
28. 5:47We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
29. 6:01I'll step back. You stay here.
30. 6:11Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
31. 6:23If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
32. 6:36Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
33. 6:48Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
34. 7:02There's no need to try harder than this.
35. 7:13Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
36. 7:24If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
37. 7:39Stay here a little longer.
38. 7:48Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
39. 8:02Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
40. 8:16Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
41. 8:28If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
42. 8:41Let the pause stretch out.
43. 8:50Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
44. 9:04Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
45. 9:17A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
46. 9:28Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
47. 9:41Let the quiet do its work.
48. 9:51Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
49. 10:05Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
50. 10:16Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
51. 10:28Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
52. 10:39Nothing changes for a moment.
53. 10:48If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
54. 11:02I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
55. 11:14Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
56. 11:27Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
57. 11:40Let this one be unhurried.
58. 11:49Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
59. 12:03Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
60. 12:16Stay with it.
61. 12:24Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
62. 12:38Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
63. 12:52No need to open your eyes yet.
64. 13:02Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
65. 13:14Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
66. 13:27Remain here for a few more breaths.
67. 13:37Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
68. 13:50Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
69. 14:02Let your body keep settling.
70. 14:11Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
71. 14:23Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
72. 14:37Keep following the air.
73. 14:46Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
74. 14:56Think of the tiredness that sits in the bones as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
75. 15:15I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
76. 15:27Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the effort everything takes is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
77. 15:46If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
78. 16:00Nothing about the flat battery feeling has to be explained or justified in this room.
79. 16:14Feel the weight of the tiredness that sits in the bones somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
80. 16:32Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
81. 16:45You do not have to win against the effort everything takes. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
82. 17:02Let the flat battery feeling be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
83. 17:21Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
84. 17:34Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
85. 17:46If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
86. 17:59Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
87. 18:12Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
88. 18:24You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
89. 18:37A few seconds more.
90. 18:46Let your eyes open when they're ready, not when the words end.
91. 18:59Before you move, notice one thing that's fine right now.
92. 19:11Just 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.