7-minute grounding meditation for frustration, before you talk

About this practice

A 7-minute grounding session for frustration, before you talk. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: frustration

Frustration is blocked progress, repeated. Each small obstruction adds to a background irritation that eventually has nothing to do with the original cause.

It tends to show up as:

• Sighing more than usual
• Everything feeling slightly too slow
• A short fuse over minor things

Releasing some physical tension interrupts the accumulation. Frustration is often held in the jaw and hands more than it is thought about.

Doing this before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth.
2. 0:13Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:23Everything that happens in the next few minutes is allowed to happen.
4. 0:36Let your attention rest on the out-breath. The in-breath can take care of itself.
5. 0:50Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
6. 1:06Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
7. 1:19Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
8. 1:31Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
9. 1:43Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 1:54You have been carrying the jaw tight with frustration for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
11. 2:14Let the exhale carry a little of the annoyance that will not settle with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
12. 2:34Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
13. 2:46Stay with it.
14. 2:54Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
15. 3:07Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
16. 3:18If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
17. 3:31Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
18. 3:43There's no need to try harder than this.
19. 3:54Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
20. 4:06Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
21. 4:19A short silence. Let it be empty.
22. 4:29If you catch yourself fighting the repeated small irritations, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
23. 4:46Imagine the jaw tight with frustration as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
24. 5:04Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
25. 5:18Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
26. 5:32Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
27. 5:45Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
28. 5:56You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
29. 6:09Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.
30. 6:19Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
31. 6:32Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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