3-minute guided noting practice for health anxiety — in the afternoon slump

About this practice

For the times in the afternoon slump when health anxiety takes up more room than you would like — 3 minutes, noting. A guided session of about 3 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: health anxiety

Health anxiety runs on a loop of scanning and checking. Each check briefly relieves the fear and then strengthens it, because the relief teaches the brain that checking was necessary.

It tends to show up as:

• Repeatedly checking a symptom or a pulse
• Searching symptoms late at night
• Reassurance that only helps for an hour

Attention moved out of the head and into the body as a whole reduces scanning. You are not arguing with the worry, just giving it less to grip.

Doing this in the mid-afternoon

• Sit upright and open a window if you can
• Expect heaviness rather than fighting it
• A short session here beats a longer one that never happens

The dip is a normal circadian low. You are riding it out, not correcting a fault.

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. 0:00Let your belly be soft. Not sucked in. Just soft.
2. 0:12A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
3. 0:27If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
4. 0:41Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
5. 0:55Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
6. 1:08Notice your breathing, without changing it.
7. 1:18Each time your mind hands you the habit of checking for something wrong, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
8. 1:38If the fear attached to each new symptom starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
9. 1:56Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
10. 2:09the worry about what your body might be telling you may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
11. 2:29Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
12. 2:42Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
13. 2:57Let your breathing go back to whatever it does when nobody is watching.

Questions people ask

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