7-minute letting go meditation for a racing mind, in the late afternoon

About this practice

When a racing mind shows up in the late afternoon, this 7-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: a racing mind

A racing mind is not a thinking problem, it is an arousal problem. When the body is revved up, the brain produces thoughts at the same speed, and each one feels urgent.

It tends to show up as:

• Thoughts arriving faster than you can finish them
• Lying awake running through the day
• Losing your place mid-sentence

Trying to stop the thoughts adds fuel. Narrowing attention to one physical sensation gives the mind a slower thing to hold.

Doing this after a long day

• Something physical first — shoes off, hands washed, water drunk
• Do not review the day during it
• Keep it short rather than thorough

Replaying the day in the practice just carries the day further into the evening.

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. 0:00Notice the heaviest part of your body right now. Let it be heavy.
2. 0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
3. 0:28We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
4. 0:42Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:55Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
6. 1:08Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
7. 1:21Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
8. 1:33Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
9. 1:47Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
10. 2:00Let thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
11. 2:21You do not have to win against the mind running ahead of you. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
12. 2:39Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
13. 2:50Stay with it.
14. 2:58Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
15. 3:09Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
16. 3:21I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
17. 3:33We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
18. 3:48If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
19. 4:02Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
20. 4:16Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
21. 4:28Picture one thought chasing the next as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
22. 4:47This is not the last time thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
23. 5:07Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
24. 5:19If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
25. 5:32If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
26. 5:46Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
27. 5:56Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
28. 6:12Come back to the room through your senses, one at a time.
29. 6:25Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.

Questions people ask

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