Being present: 10-minute noting meditation, on a train journey

About this practice

10 minutes to meet being present with less of a fight. A noting practice, on a train journey. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: being present

Life happens in the present while attention is busy elsewhere. Nothing is missing except the noticing.

It tends to show up as:

• Days blurring together
• Feeling absent from your own week
• Only registering moments in photographs

Sensory attention is the shortest route back. Sound, contact and breath are always in the present.

Doing this on a train

• Pick a window seat if you can and let the view do part of the work
• Set an alarm for your stop
• Keep the bag on your lap rather than unfastening to find it later

The motion can make reading or screens uncomfortable, which is another reason audio works better here.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Notice where your body touches the chair. That contact is doing more for you than it looks.
2. 0:15Let this be easy, if easy is available.
3. 0:26Everything that happens in the next few minutes is allowed to happen.
4. 0:39If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
5. 0:53Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
6. 1:07If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
7. 1:21Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
8. 1:32Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
9. 1:44Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 1:55Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
11. 2:07When the wandering back to now presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
12. 2:26Feel the weight of the life happening while you worry somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
13. 2:43If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
14. 2:56Small efforts are the whole method.
15. 3:06A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
16. 3:17If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
17. 3:28You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
18. 3:41Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
19. 3:51If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
20. 4:04If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
21. 4:17A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
22. 4:28If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
23. 4:43Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
24. 4:55Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
25. 5:08Let it be this simple.
26. 5:17Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
27. 5:30Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
28. 5:42Take the next breath slowly.
29. 5:51Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
30. 6:02Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
31. 6:13Stay here a little longer.
32. 6:22Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
33. 6:34Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
34. 6:47No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
35. 6:58Nothing about the texture of this exact moment has to be explained or justified in this room.
36. 7:13Each time your mind hands you the wandering back to now, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
37. 7:32Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
38. 7:47If the life happening while you worry shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
39. 8:08Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
40. 8:20If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
41. 8:33Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
42. 8:44We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
43. 8:54Keep following the air.
44. 9:03Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
45. 9:17Roll your neck once, slowly, in whichever direction feels good.
46. 9:29Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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