Burnout: 10-minute softening meditation, on a meeting break

About this practice

When burnout shows up on a meeting break, this 10-minute softening session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: burnout

Burnout is not tiredness you can sleep off. It is a flat, depleted state after prolonged effort, where the usual rewards stop registering.

It tends to show up as:

• Flatness rather than sadness
• Cynicism about work you used to care about
• Rest that does not restore anything

Recovery is not a push. Gentle practices that ask nothing of you are more useful here than anything with a target.

Doing this between meetings

• Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins
• Write down the open thread from the last meeting first, then let it go
• Two minutes done beats five minutes planned

The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
2. 0:13Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
3. 0:27We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:41Imagine your thoughts as traffic on a road you're standing beside. You don't have to flag any of it down.
5. 0:58Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
6. 1:12Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
7. 1:24Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
8. 1:36Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
9. 1:47Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
10. 1:59Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
11. 2:10If the distance between you and the work you used to love has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
12. 2:30You are allowed to be unimpressed by the flatness after pushing too long. Indifference is a legitimate response.
13. 2:46Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
14. 2:59Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
15. 3:12Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
16. 3:23Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
17. 3:35If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
18. 3:50No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
19. 4:01If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
20. 4:14Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
21. 4:28A short silence. Let it be empty.
22. 4:38Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
23. 4:51Feel the tops of your thighs.
24. 5:01Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
25. 5:14Just the breath, still.
26. 5:23Notice your breathing, without changing it.
27. 5:33Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
28. 5:44No rush to move on.
29. 5:53Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
30. 6:04Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
31. 6:18Let the pause stretch out.
32. 6:27Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
33. 6:40Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
34. 6:53I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
35. 7:06Imagine the worn-down feeling that coffee cannot fix as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
36. 7:25Whatever the distance between you and the work you used to love is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
37. 7:43Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
38. 7:56Notice how the flatness after pushing too long changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
39. 8:13Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
40. 8:24You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
41. 8:36A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
42. 8:47With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
43. 9:02Let your body keep settling.
44. 9:11Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.
45. 9:22Before you move, notice one thing that's fine right now.

Questions people ask

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