5-minute guided letting go practice for burnout — on the morning of an interview

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 5 minutes of letting go for burnout, on the morning of an interview. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: burnout

Burnout is not tiredness you can sleep off. It is a flat, depleted state after prolonged effort, where the usual rewards stop registering.

It tends to show up as:

• Flatness rather than sadness
• Cynicism about work you used to care about
• Rest that does not restore anything

Recovery is not a push. Gentle practices that ask nothing of you are more useful here than anything with a target.

Doing this before an interview

• Do it where you will not be interrupted, even if that is a stairwell
• Have the first sentence of your answer ready afterwards
• Keep it short — there is no time for a long session

Nerves before an interview are normal and not something to eliminate. You need access to what you know, nothing more.

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. 0:00Start with the noise that is already in the room. We are not going to try to remove it yet.
2. 0:17With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
3. 0:32Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
4. 0:47Imagine your thoughts as traffic on a road you're standing beside. You don't have to flag any of it down.
5. 1:04Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
6. 1:20Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
7. 1:33Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
8. 1:45Feel the tops of your thighs.
9. 1:55Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
10. 2:07Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
11. 2:23If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
12. 2:36If the distance between you and the work you used to love has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
13. 2:56Imagine softening the edges of the flatness after pushing too long. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
14. 3:14Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
15. 3:27the worn-down feeling that coffee cannot fix may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
16. 3:46Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
17. 3:59Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
18. 4:11Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
19. 4:26If you drifted off, that was rest, and rest counts.
20. 4:38Nothing changes for a moment.

Questions people ask

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