5-minute body scan meditation for fatigue, beside your desk

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for fatigue. A body scan session you can do beside your desk. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: fatigue

Fatigue is deep tiredness of the kind that sleep does not fully clear, usually after a stretch of sustained demand.

It tends to show up as:

• Tired behind the eyes all day
• Heavy limbs
• Rest that does not refresh

Here the practice should be restful rather than stimulating. Quiet and unambitious is the right dose.

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 body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your shoulders drop about a centimetre. That is roughly where most of us keep the day.
2. 0:15If a region feels numb, that is a finding too. Note it and move on.
3. 0:29There's no correct speed. Slower isn't better. Steadier is the only aim.
4. 0:42If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
5. 0:56Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
6. 1:07Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
7. 1:20Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
8. 1:33Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
9. 1:45Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
10. 1:58Let the pause stretch out.
11. 2:07Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
12. 2:19Your only job is to notice what is there, region by region, without fixing anything.
13. 2:33Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
14. 2:46If the bone-deep tiredness is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
15. 3:02If the heaviness behind your eyes has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
16. 3:20Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
17. 3:31You have been carrying the end of the reserves for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
18. 3:51If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
19. 4:05Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
20. 4:17Start at the crown of the head and move down slowly. Do not skip to the parts that hurt.
21. 4:33Notice your feet on the floor. That's where you start from.

Questions people ask

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