5-minute guided letting go practice for gratitude — on a break

About this practice

For the times on a break when gratitude takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, letting go. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: gratitude

Attention prioritises threats by default, which is useful for survival and costly for mood. Good things go unnoticed simply because they are not urgent.

It tends to show up as:

• Ending the day with no memory of the good parts
• Focusing on what went wrong
• Good moments passing without registering

Gratitude here is an attention exercise, not a demand to feel thankful. Noticing is the practice; the feeling is optional.

Doing this on a break

• Leave the room if you can
• Do not start anything else in the same gap
• Set a timer so the break has an end

A break spent half-engaged with a screen is not much of a break. Guard the whole five minutes.

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. 0:00If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up.
2. 0:15We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
3. 0:25You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
4. 0:39Let your attention drop to the level of your shoulders and stay there a moment.
5. 0:53Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
6. 1:04Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
7. 1:16Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
8. 1:28Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
9. 1:42Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 1:53Remain here for a few more breaths.
11. 2:03Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
12. 2:14You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
13. 2:27If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
14. 2:42Imagine the warmth of noticing what is already here as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
15. 3:01Let the exhale carry a little of the good things you usually hurry past with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
16. 3:21Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
17. 3:33You are allowed to be unimpressed by the small comforts of an ordinary day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
18. 3:49If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
19. 4:03Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
20. 4:14If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
21. 4:27Take one more breath at your own pace, then let your attention come back to the room.

Questions people ask

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