20-minute guided breathing practice for morning energy — in the queue

About this practice

A 20-minute breathing session for morning energy, in the queue. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: morning energy

Morning energy depends on how you come out of sleep and when light hits your eyes, more than on the number of hours.

It tends to show up as:

• Heavy eyelids at the start
• Struggling out of bed
• Needing to hit snooze repeatedly

Movement and breathing raise alertness without caffeine, and the effect holds better through the early hours.

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 breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your belly be soft. Not sucked in. Just soft.
2. 0:12We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
3. 0:22We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
4. 0:36Bring your attention to where your body meets the surface underneath you.
5. 0:49Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
6. 1:03Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
7. 1:17Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
8. 1:29Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
9. 1:42Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
10. 1:54Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
11. 2:06Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
12. 2:18When the day arriving before you are ready presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
13. 2:38You have been carrying the wish to begin without the scramble for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
14. 2:59Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
15. 3:12Whatever the heavy eyelids at the start is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
16. 3:28Give the day arriving before you are ready a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
17. 3:47Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
18. 3:58Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
19. 4:09You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
20. 4:22Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
21. 4:34If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
22. 4:47Small efforts are the whole method.
23. 4:57Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
24. 5:09Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
25. 5:21Let this be easy, if easy is available.
26. 5:32No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
27. 5:43Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
28. 5:57We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
29. 6:11I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
30. 6:23If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
31. 6:38If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
32. 6:51A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
33. 7:02If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
34. 7:15Nothing here needs to be efficient.
35. 7:25Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
36. 7:36If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
37. 7:49Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
38. 7:59Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
39. 8:12Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
40. 8:24Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
41. 8:35Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
42. 8:46No need to open your eyes yet.
43. 8:56Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
44. 9:09Feel the tops of your thighs.
45. 9:19Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
46. 9:29Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
47. 9:41No rush to move on.
48. 9:50Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
49. 10:02I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
50. 10:14Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
51. 10:26Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
52. 10:38Let this one be unhurried.
53. 10:47If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
54. 11:01Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
55. 11:12Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
56. 11:23Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
57. 11:36Just the breath, still.
58. 11:45Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
59. 11:57If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
60. 12:11Remain here for a few more breaths.
61. 12:21Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
62. 12:34Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
63. 12:49Stay here a little longer.
64. 12:58Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
65. 13:09Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
66. 13:22Keep following the air.
67. 13:31Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
68. 13:43Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
69. 13:57Take the next breath slowly.
70. 14:06Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
71. 14:17Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
72. 14:28Stay with it.
73. 14:36Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
74. 14:49Let the exhale carry a little of the wish to begin without the scramble with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
75. 15:09A short silence. Let it be empty.
76. 15:19If the heavy eyelids at the start has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
77. 15:37Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
78. 15:50Let the day arriving before you are ready be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
79. 16:11You do not have to like the wish to begin without the scramble to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
80. 16:29Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
81. 16:43Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the heavy eyelids at the start is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
82. 17:02Feel the weight of the day arriving before you are ready somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
83. 17:20Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
84. 17:34You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
85. 17:46Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
86. 17:58Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
87. 18:11A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
88. 18:22There's no need to try harder than this.
89. 18:33Let the pause stretch out.
90. 18:42Wiggle your fingers and toes, gently, like you're testing that they still work.
91. 18:55Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
92. 19:10Let your body keep settling.

Questions people ask

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