5-minute guided self-compassion practice for contentment — at midday

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 5 minutes of self-compassion for contentment, at midday. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

• Arriving without enjoying the arrival
• Immediately wanting the next thing
• Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Doing this at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

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. 0:00Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now.
2. 0:15Say it once, plainly: this is hard, and I am allowed to find it hard.
3. 0:29Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
4. 0:42We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
5. 0:56Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
6. 1:09Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
7. 1:23Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
8. 1:37Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
9. 1:48Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
10. 1:59Let your body keep settling.
11. 2:08Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
12. 2:19You are allowed to have a hard time without earning it first.
13. 2:32If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
14. 2:45Whatever the enough-ness of right now is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
15. 3:00If the calm of not wanting more this minute is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
16. 3:19Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
17. 3:31You do not have to like the settled feeling after striving to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
18. 3:48If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
19. 4:01Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
20. 4:12The question is not what you deserve. It is what you need, right now, in this moment.
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.