20-minute noting meditation for tension headaches, on a train journey

About this practice

For the times on a train journey when tension headaches takes up more room than you would like — 20 minutes, noting. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tension headaches

Tension headaches follow a band of tightness across the forehead and around the skull, usually the product of long staring, jaw clenching and neck position.

It tends to show up as:

• A band of pressure across the forehead
• Pressure behind the eyes
• Ache worsening through the day

Softening the jaw, eyes and neck interrupts the pattern early. Once a tension headache settles in it is harder to shift.

Doing this on a train

• Pick a window seat if you can and let the view do part of the work
• Set an alarm for your stop
• Keep the bag on your lap rather than unfastening to find it later

The motion can make reading or screens uncomfortable, which is another reason audio works better here.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Begin with the simple fact that you got here. That already happened.
2. 0:13Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
3. 0:28For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:42Notice your own pulse somewhere. Wrist, throat, wherever you can find it.
5. 0:55Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
6. 1:07Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
7. 1:20Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
8. 1:31Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
9. 1:44Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
10. 1:55Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
11. 2:07Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
12. 2:18You do not have to solve the band around the forehead in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
13. 2:37Let the exhale carry a little of the pressure building behind the eyes with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
14. 2:57Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
15. 3:10Each time your mind hands you the ache from a long staring day, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
16. 3:30Imagine the band around the forehead as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
17. 3:48If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
18. 4:02Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
19. 4:14Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
20. 4:28A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
21. 4:39Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
22. 4:53If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
23. 5:08Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
24. 5:19If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
25. 5:32When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
26. 5:47Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
27. 5:59You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
28. 6:11A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
29. 6:26I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
30. 6:38Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
31. 6:52No need to open your eyes yet.
32. 7:02Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
33. 7:17Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
34. 7:30A short silence. Let it be empty.
35. 7:40If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
36. 7:53Let your body keep settling.
37. 8:02Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
38. 8:15Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
39. 8:27Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
40. 8:39Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
41. 8:50Let this one be unhurried.
42. 8:59Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
43. 9:12Feel your calves, front and back.
44. 9:22I'll step back. You stay here.
45. 9:32If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
46. 9:45Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
47. 9:59Stay here a little longer.
48. 10:08Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
49. 10:19Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
50. 10:30Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
51. 10:42Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
52. 10:55Keep following the air.
53. 11:04Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
54. 11:16I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
55. 11:29Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
56. 11:41Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
57. 11:54Stay with it.
58. 12:02If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
59. 12:15Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
60. 12:26Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
61. 12:38Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
62. 12:51Let the quiet do its work.
63. 13:01Notice your breathing, without changing it.
64. 13:11Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
65. 13:23No rush to move on.
66. 13:32Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
67. 13:44Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
68. 13:58Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
69. 14:08Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
70. 14:20Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
71. 14:33Just the breath, still.
72. 14:42Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
73. 14:54When the pressure building behind the eyes presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
74. 15:14Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
75. 15:24You are allowed to be unimpressed by the ache from a long staring day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
76. 15:40Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
77. 15:53Notice how the band around the forehead changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
78. 16:10You do not have to win against the pressure building behind the eyes. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
79. 16:28Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
80. 16:42If the ache from a long staring day has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
81. 17:01If you catch yourself fighting the band around the forehead, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
82. 17:19Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
83. 17:33Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
84. 17:44If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
85. 17:57If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
86. 18:12Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
87. 18:24You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
88. 18:39Remain here for a few more breaths.
89. 18:49Take a moment to notice you did this for yourself. That's not nothing.
90. 19:02When you're ready, look around properly.

Questions people ask

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