energy · 5 min
Fatigue: 5-minute letting go meditation, before work
5 minutes to meet fatigue with less of a fight. A letting go practice, before work.
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About this practice
5 minutes to meet fatigue with less of a fight. A letting go practice, before work. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.
What this works on: fatigue
Fatigue is deep tiredness of the kind that sleep does not fully clear, usually after a stretch of sustained demand.
It tends to show up as:
- Tired behind the eyes all day
- Heavy limbs
- Rest that does not refresh
Here the practice should be restful rather than stimulating. Quiet and unambitious is the right dose.
Doing this before a busy day
- Do it before the first message or notification
- Aim for steadiness rather than energy
- Decide the first task afterwards, not during
The point is to begin without already being behind, not to prepare for every possibility.
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
- 0:00Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second.
- 0:13You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
- 0:28Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
- 0:40Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
- 0:53Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
- 1:07Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
- 1:19Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
- 1:33Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
- 1:45Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
- 1:57Keep following the air.
- 2:06Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
- 2:21Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
- 2:34Give the heaviness behind your eyes a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
- 2:52This is not the last time the end of the reserves will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
- 3:11Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
- 3:25Each time your mind hands you the bone-deep tiredness, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
- 3:44Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
- 3:57A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
- 4:08We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
- 4:23Come back to the room through your senses, one at a time.
- 4:36A few seconds more.
Questions people ask
What does this session help with?
Fatigue is deep tiredness of the kind that sleep does not fully clear, usually after a stretch of sustained demand. Here the practice should be restful rather than stimulating. Quiet and unambitious is the right dose.
Where and when should I do this one?
Do it before the first message or notification. The point is to begin without already being behind, not to prepare for every possibility.
What actually happens during the 5 minutes?
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.
Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.