A racing mind: 20-minute letting go meditation, when it all piles up

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 20 minutes of letting go for a racing mind, when it all piles up. A guided session of about 20 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 when you are overwhelmed

Do not decide priorities during it
Pick the shortest session available here
When you finish, write down the first physical action on paper

The pile looks less like a pile once the alarm stops ringing. Sort it after, not during.

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

0:00Part of you is still in the last conversation you had. That's fine. It can sit here too.
0:16Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
0:32Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
0:47Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
1:03Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
1:16Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
1:29Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
1:42Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
1:54Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
2:07Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
2:18Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
2:31Think of thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
2:50the mind running ahead of you may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
3:08Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
3:19Let one thought chasing the next be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
3:39Give thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
3:58Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
4:12Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
4:23Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
4:38I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
4:50If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
5:04We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
5:19Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
5:31If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
5:44You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
5:59A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
6:10Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
6:22Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
6:38A short silence. Let it be empty.
6:48If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
7:01Let it be this simple.
7:10Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
7:23Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
7:35I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
7:47If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
8:01Take the next breath slowly.
8:10Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
8:23Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
8:35No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
8:46Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
8:58A few seconds more.
9:07Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
9:20Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
9:31A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
9:42Let the quiet do its work.
9:52If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
10:06Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
10:17Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
10:29Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
10:42Stay with it.
10:50If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
11:04I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
11:17Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
11:30Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
11:46Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
11:56If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
12:11Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
12:22Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
12:36Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
12:49No need to open your eyes yet.
12:59Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
13:09Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
13:25Let this one be unhurried.
13:34Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
13:47Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
13:59Stay here a little longer.
14:08Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
14:20Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
14:31No rush to move on.
14:40Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
14:52This is not the last time the mind running ahead of you will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
15:11Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
15:23Notice where one thought chasing the next lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
15:41Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
15:55Imagine thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
16:14There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
16:32Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
16:46There is no correct amount of one thought chasing the next to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
17:04You do not have to like thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
17:22Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
17:35If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
17:48If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
18:02Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
18:14I'll step back. You stay here.
18:24With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
18:39Keep following the air.
18:48Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.
18:59Give your hands a stretch before you go back to using them.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

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

Where and when should I do this one?

Do not decide priorities during it. The pile looks less like a pile once the alarm stops ringing. Sort it after, not during.

What actually happens during the 20 minutes?

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.

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