3-minute guided self-compassion practice for low energy — at your desk

About this practice

A 3-minute self-compassion session for low energy, at your desk. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 3 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 at your desk

• Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline
• You can do this with your eyes open if the office makes closing them awkward
• Unclench the jaw and drop the shoulders first, before anything else

Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

How self-compassion works

Self-compassion practice changes the tone of the inner voice rather than the content of the thoughts. It uses the same warmth and steadiness you would offer a friend, applied without requiring you to have earned it.

• Use the words you would actually say to someone you love
• Ask what you need, not what you deserve
• A hand on the chest or belly gives warmth and pressure a place to land

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
2. 0:13Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:23Let your attention rest on the out-breath. The in-breath can take care of itself.
4. 0:37Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
5. 0:50Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
6. 1:06Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
7. 1:19When the tiredness that sits in the bones presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
8. 1:39You do not have to like the effort everything takes to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
9. 1:55Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
10. 2:08If you catch yourself fighting the flat battery feeling, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
11. 2:25If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
12. 2:38Let this be easy, if easy is available.
13. 2:49Let the next breath be the start of the rest of the day.

Questions people ask

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