20-minute guided letting go practice for waking up — when you are at your limit

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 20 minutes of letting go for waking up, when you are at your limit. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: waking up

On waking, the brain passes through a slow transition rather than switching on. Rushing it leaves you foggy for the first hour.

It tends to show up as:

• Needing a long time to feel awake
• Foggy, irritable mornings
• The day starting before you are ready

Giving the body a few unhurried minutes at the start changes the tone of everything that follows.

Doing this when you are overwhelmed

• Do not decide priorities during it
• Pick the shortest session available here
• When you finish, write down the first physical action on paper

The pile looks less like a pile once the alarm stops ringing. Sort it after, not during.

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 the first out-breath be longer than the in-breath. Nothing dramatic, just longer.
2. 0:13You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
3. 0:28Let your attention drop to the level of your shoulders and stay there a moment.
4. 0:42We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
5. 0:56Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
6. 1:09Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
7. 1:23Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
8. 1:34Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
9. 1:47Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
10. 1:58Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
11. 2:10Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
12. 2:21This is not the last time the slow start of the day will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
13. 2:40Feel the weight of the fog of just-woken somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
14. 2:56Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
15. 3:10Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the morning body that needs a moment is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
16. 3:30If the slow start of the day is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
17. 3:48Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
18. 4:02Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
19. 4:14Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
20. 4:30Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
21. 4:41If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
22. 4:54With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
23. 5:09No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
24. 5:20Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
25. 5:34We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
26. 5:49A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
27. 6:00If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
28. 6:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
29. 6:30I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
30. 6:43Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
31. 6:54Stay with it.
32. 7:02Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
33. 7:16Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
34. 7:27Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
35. 7:39If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
36. 7:53No rush to move on.
37. 8:02Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
38. 8:15Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
39. 8:27Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
40. 8:38If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
41. 8:52Let this one be unhurried.
42. 9:01Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
43. 9:12Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
44. 9:23Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
45. 9:33Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
46. 9:46Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
47. 9:59A few seconds more.
48. 10:08Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
49. 10:21A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
50. 10:32Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
51. 10:44Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
52. 10:56Take the next breath slowly.
53. 11:05If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
54. 11:19Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
55. 11:31Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
56. 11:44If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
57. 11:58Remain here for a few more breaths.
58. 12:08Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
59. 12:20A short silence. Let it be empty.
60. 12:30Notice your breathing, without changing it.
61. 12:40Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
62. 12:54Nothing changes for a moment.
63. 13:03Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
64. 13:13Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
65. 13:27Stay here a little longer.
66. 13:36Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
67. 13:48Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
68. 14:01No need to open your eyes yet.
69. 14:11Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
70. 14:21Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
71. 14:35Keep following the air.
72. 14:44Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
73. 14:56There is no correct amount of the fog of just-woken to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
74. 15:14I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
75. 15:26Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
76. 15:43Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
77. 15:58You do not have to win against the slow start of the day. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
78. 16:16You do not have to like the fog of just-woken to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
79. 16:32Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
80. 16:43Notice how the morning body that needs a moment changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
81. 17:01Let the slow start of the day be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
82. 17:21Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
83. 17:34Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
84. 17:45Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
85. 17:59Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
86. 18:13Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
87. 18:25Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
88. 18:41Let the pause stretch out.
89. 18:50Notice if anything has loosened. Even slightly counts.
90. 19:01Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.

Questions people ask

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