Deep work: 20-minute letting go meditation, at bedtime

About this practice

20 minutes to meet deep work with less of a fight. A letting go practice, at bedtime. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: deep work

Deep work requires a low distraction floor. Modern work rarely provides one, so the transition into it has to be manufactured.

It tends to show up as:

• Getting interrupted every few minutes
• Starting five things and finishing none
• Feeling busy but not productive

A short deliberate transition tells the body the next stretch is different. Without one, the previous meeting follows you in.

Doing this before bed

• Do it in bed or somewhere you can move straight to bed after
• Lower the light, and do not check anything afterwards
• If you fall asleep before the end, it worked

Falling asleep mid-session is a success, not a failure to complete it.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

• Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
• Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
• Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Quick check: is anything genuinely urgent in this exact minute? Usually the answer is no.
2. 0:14Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:29Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
4. 0:45If it helps, imagine your attention is a torch beam. Right now it's wide and soft.
5. 1:00Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
6. 1:15Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
7. 1:31Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
8. 1:43Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
9. 1:55Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
10. 2:06Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
11. 2:18Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
12. 2:29Picture the pull of notifications as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
13. 2:47If the task that needs a clear head starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
14. 3:05Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
15. 3:18Feel the weight of the open tabs of your attention somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
16. 3:35There is no correct amount of the pull of notifications to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
17. 3:53If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
18. 4:07If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
19. 4:20Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
20. 4:36I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
21. 4:49If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
22. 5:04We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
23. 5:19A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
24. 5:30If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
25. 5:43You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
26. 5:58Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
27. 6:09Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
28. 6:21With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
29. 6:36Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
30. 6:48Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
31. 7:01Let the pause stretch out.
32. 7:10Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
33. 7:21Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
34. 7:33I'll step back. You stay here.
35. 7:43If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
36. 7:57Let it be this simple.
37. 8:06Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
38. 8:22Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
39. 8:34Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
40. 8:45If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
41. 8:58Keep following the air.
42. 9:07Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
43. 9:18Feel the tops of your thighs.
44. 9:28Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
45. 9:40Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
46. 9:51Let the quiet do its work.
47. 10:01If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
48. 10:14Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
49. 10:26Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
50. 10:38Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
51. 10:50Just the breath, still.
52. 10:59If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
53. 11:12Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
54. 11:24Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
55. 11:36Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
56. 11:48Stay here a little longer.
57. 11:57Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
58. 12:10Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
59. 12:21Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
60. 12:32Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
61. 12:46Let your body keep settling.
62. 12:55Notice your breathing, without changing it.
63. 13:05Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
64. 13:18No rush to move on.
65. 13:27Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
66. 13:39Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
67. 13:54Remain here for a few more breaths.
68. 14:04Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
69. 14:18Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
70. 14:29No need to open your eyes yet.
71. 14:39Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
72. 14:51Nothing about the task that needs a clear head has to be explained or justified in this room.
73. 15:07I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
74. 15:19You do not have to like the open tabs of your attention to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
75. 15:36Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
76. 15:49Each time your mind hands you the pull of notifications, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
77. 16:08This is not the last time the task that needs a clear head will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
78. 16:28Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
79. 16:42Imagine the open tabs of your attention as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
80. 17:01You do not have to win against the pull of notifications. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
81. 17:18Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
82. 17:31If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
83. 17:43If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
84. 17:57Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
85. 18:09Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
86. 18:19Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
87. 18:35Let this one be unhurried.
88. 18:44Let your jaw, shoulders and hands be loose as you finish.
89. 18:56Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.
90. 19:07A few seconds more.

Questions people ask

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