7-minute softening meditation for concentration, in the air

About this practice

For the times in the air when concentration takes up more room than you would like — 7 minutes, softening. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: concentration

Concentration fails for two reasons: the task is uninteresting, or the body is too activated to hold anything steady. The second one is fixable in minutes.

It tends to show up as:

• Attention sliding off within seconds
• Jumping between tabs
• Feeling physically unable to sit still

Lowering arousal raises the ceiling of what attention can hold. Practice first, then the task.

Doing this on a plane

• Use headphones, and keep the seatbelt on
• Bring a layer — being cold works against settling
• Skip alcohol; it makes the alertness worse

Cabin noise is constant and will mask the audio more than you expect. Try the headphones before you settle in.

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. 0:00Take one breath that is slightly slower than the last one. That is enough to start.
2. 0:15If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
3. 0:30Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
4. 0:46We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
5. 1:00Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
6. 1:13Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
7. 1:27Notice your breathing, without changing it.
8. 1:37Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
9. 1:49Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
10. 2:00Nothing about the attention that keeps sliding off has to be explained or justified in this room.
11. 2:15If the urge to check something else shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
12. 2:36Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
13. 2:48A few seconds more.
14. 2:57Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
15. 3:09Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
16. 3:20If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
17. 3:33I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
18. 3:45Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
19. 3:58Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
20. 4:11Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
21. 4:24Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
22. 4:36When the difficulty of staying with one thing arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
23. 4:56Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
24. 5:13Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
25. 5:26If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
26. 5:40If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
27. 5:51A short silence. Let it be empty.
28. 6:01We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
29. 6:15Stand up when you're ready. The list hasn't grown while you were here.
30. 6:28Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.

Questions people ask

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