Back pain and tension: 12-minute gratitude meditation, on the train

About this practice

When back pain and tension shows up on the train, this 12-minute gratitude session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: back pain and tension

Much of daily back discomfort is muscular load rather than structural damage — muscles holding a position long after they should have let go.

It tends to show up as:

• Lower back ache after sitting
• Stiffness on standing
• Pain that improves when moving

Attention moves into the back rather than away from it. Being willing to feel it is usually where release starts.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Sit however you were already sitting. You don't have to straighten up first.
2. 0:13If nothing comes, notice that something did not go wrong. That also counts.
3. 0:26If it helps, imagine your attention is a torch beam. Right now it's wide and soft.
4. 0:41If your mind is loud, that's information, not failure.
5. 0:52Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
6. 1:08Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
7. 1:21Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
8. 1:33Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
9. 1:47Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
10. 1:58Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
11. 2:10Give the stiffness from sitting a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
12. 2:27Let the exhale carry a little of the ache in the lower back with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
13. 2:47Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
14. 3:00Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
15. 3:13We are not forcing positivity. We are just noticing what went right, however small.
16. 3:27A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
17. 3:38If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
18. 3:49Pick one ordinary thing from today — a warm drink, a dry walk, a message — and let it count.
19. 4:06Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
20. 4:18If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
21. 4:31Stay with it for two breaths. Gratitude deepens by staying, not by listing.
22. 4:44Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
23. 4:54Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
24. 5:06There is no need to feel grateful. Just look, and see what is actually there.
25. 5:20Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
26. 5:31Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
27. 5:43Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
28. 5:56Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
29. 6:07Let this one be unhurried.
30. 6:16Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
31. 6:28Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
32. 6:42Just the breath, still.
33. 6:51Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
34. 7:04Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
35. 7:18No need to open your eyes yet.
36. 7:28Feel your calves, front and back.
37. 7:38Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
38. 7:51Let your body keep settling.
39. 8:00Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
40. 8:12There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
41. 8:30Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
42. 8:41Picture the stiffness from sitting as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
43. 8:59Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
44. 9:12Notice the space around the ache in the lower back. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
45. 9:31If the muscles holding on all day starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
46. 9:48Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
47. 10:01If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
48. 10:14Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
49. 10:27Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
50. 10:38Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
51. 10:51Stay with it.
52. 10:59Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.
53. 11:11Let the quiet end on its own rather than cutting it off.
54. 11:24Take 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.