Breathing for low energy: 5 minutes, before an appointment

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 5 minutes of breathing for low energy, before an appointment. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: low energy

Low energy is a flat battery, not laziness. Pushing through it further drains reserves and produces worse work, faster.

It tends to show up as:

• Everything feeling like an effort
• Procrastinating on simple tasks
• Tiredness sitting deep in the body

A short practice will not restore the reserve, but it removes some of the tension that is draining it.

Doing this in a waiting room

• You can do this with your eyes open and your hands where they are
• Nothing here needs to look like a meditation
• Aim for steadiness rather than calm

Waiting feeds the dread it is meant to relieve. Having something specific to do with the time is the useful part.

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. 0:00Unclench your jaw. You were probably holding it without noticing.
2. 0:12Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
3. 0:28You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
4. 0:40Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
5. 0:56Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
6. 1:09Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
7. 1:22Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
8. 1:35Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
9. 1:46Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
10. 1:57Stay here a little longer.
11. 2:06If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
12. 2:22If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
13. 2:36If the flat battery feeling starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
14. 2:52Let the exhale carry a little of the tiredness that sits in the bones with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
15. 3:12Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
16. 3:26If you catch yourself fighting the effort everything takes, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
17. 3:43If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
18. 3:56A short silence. Let it be empty.
19. 4:06Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
20. 4:22When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
21. 4:35Let the quiet do its work.

Questions people ask

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