5-minute guided softening practice for tired eyes — as sleep prep

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for tired eyes. A softening session you can do as sleep prep. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tired eyes

Screens reduce blink rate sharply, and the muscles that focus at close range stay contracted. The result is strain, ache and blur by the end of the day.

It tends to show up as:

• Aching, gritty eyes after screen time
• Blurring at the end of the day
• Headaches above the eyes

Closing the eyes is the only real rest they get. A few minutes without visual input is the specific thing your eyes are short of.

Doing this before sleep

• Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach
• Do it in bed if that helps you stay there
• Let yourself fall asleep rather than finishing it

Checking anything afterwards undoes most of it. Let this be the last thing.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Put both feet flat on the floor and let them take some of the weight.
2. 0:14Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
3. 0:28Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
4. 0:44Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
5. 0:58Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
6. 1:11Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
7. 1:24Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
8. 1:37Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
9. 1:48Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
10. 1:59Stay with it.
11. 2:07With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
12. 2:22Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
13. 2:34Feel the weight of the ache of staring too long somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
14. 2:51Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the strained eyes after screens is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
15. 3:10Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
16. 3:24If the heavy lids of a screen-lit day shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
17. 3:45Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
18. 3:56I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
19. 4:09We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
20. 4:23Let the next breath be the start of the rest of the day.
21. 4:36Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

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