Back pain and tension: 20-minute breathing meditation, at midday

About this practice

20 minutes to meet back pain and tension with less of a fight. A breathing practice, at midday. A guided session of about 20 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 at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Part of you is still in the last conversation you had. That's fine. It can sit here too.
2. 0:16If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
3. 0:32Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
4. 0:48Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
5. 1:06Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
6. 1:22Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
7. 1:33Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
8. 1:44Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
9. 1:56Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
10. 2:07Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
11. 2:20Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
12. 2:32Notice how the muscles holding on all day changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
13. 2:49the stiffness from sitting may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
14. 3:06Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
15. 3:20If the ache in the lower back has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
16. 3:38Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
17. 3:55Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
18. 4:08Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
19. 4:20Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
20. 4:34Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
21. 4:46Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
22. 4:57Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
23. 5:13A short silence. Let it be empty.
24. 5:23If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
25. 5:36Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
26. 5:52No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
27. 6:03If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
28. 6:14Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
29. 6:28Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
30. 6:38Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
31. 6:52Let this one be unhurried.
32. 7:01Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
33. 7:12Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
34. 7:24I'll step back. You stay here.
35. 7:34If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
36. 7:47Nothing changes for a moment.
37. 7:56Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
38. 8:07Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
39. 8:19Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
40. 8:30Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
41. 8:42Remain here for a few more breaths.
42. 8:52Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
43. 9:05Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
44. 9:17Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
45. 9:29Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
46. 9:41Stay here a little longer.
47. 9:50If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
48. 10:03A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
49. 10:14Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
50. 10:27Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
51. 10:39Just the breath, still.
52. 10:48If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
53. 11:03Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
54. 11:14Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
55. 11:26Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
56. 11:40Let the quiet do its work.
57. 11:50If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
58. 12:03A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
59. 12:14Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
60. 12:25Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
61. 12:38Stay with it.
62. 12:46Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
63. 12:58Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
64. 13:11Let the pause stretch out.
65. 13:20Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
66. 13:32If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
67. 13:46A few seconds more.
68. 13:55Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
69. 14:09Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
70. 14:22Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
71. 14:32Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
72. 14:44You do not have to solve the stiffness from sitting in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
73. 15:03Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
74. 15:14Feel the weight of the ache in the lower back somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
75. 15:31Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
76. 15:46Let the muscles holding on all day be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
77. 16:06When the stiffness from sitting presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
78. 16:25Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
79. 16:40There is no correct amount of the ache in the lower back to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
80. 16:59If the muscles holding on all day is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
81. 17:17Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
82. 17:30If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
83. 17:44Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
84. 17:57If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
85. 18:10Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
86. 18:22There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
87. 18:37No rush to move on.
88. 18:46Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
89. 19:00Let the quiet end on its own rather than cutting it off.

Questions people ask

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