Financial stress: 15-minute softening meditation, on the way in

About this practice

For the times on the way in when financial stress takes up more room than you would like — 15 minutes, softening. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: financial stress

Money worry runs at night, when there is nothing to do about it. The lack of any available action keeps the nervous system activated for hours.

It tends to show up as:

• Lying awake doing arithmetic
• A clenched stomach opening the bank app
• Irritability about small spending

At 2am there is no decision to make, only a night to get through. That is the whole job of this practice.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

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. 0:00Keep your eyes open if you like, resting on one point of the floor a metre or two ahead.
2. 0:16Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:26Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
4. 0:39Let the last hour go on its own. You can pick it up again afterwards.
5. 0:53Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6. 1:07Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
7. 1:20Feel the tops of your thighs.
8. 1:30Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
9. 1:41Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
10. 1:55Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
11. 2:08Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
12. 2:21Nothing about the worry that follows the bills has to be explained or justified in this room.
13. 2:36You do not have to win against the fear about money in the night. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
14. 2:55Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
15. 3:08Whatever the arithmetic that will not balance is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
16. 3:24Let the worry that follows the bills be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
17. 3:44Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
18. 3:55Stay here a little longer.
19. 4:04Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
20. 4:17Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
21. 4:31Stay with it.
22. 4:39Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
23. 4:52Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
24. 5:04Remain here for a few more breaths.
25. 5:14Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
26. 5:27Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
27. 5:41No need to open your eyes yet.
28. 5:51Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
29. 6:05Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
30. 6:17Let this one be unhurried.
31. 6:26Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
32. 6:40Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
33. 6:54Let it be this simple.
34. 7:03I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
35. 7:15We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
36. 7:25If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
37. 7:38A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
38. 7:49You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
39. 8:02Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
40. 8:16Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
41. 8:27There's no need to try harder than this.
42. 8:38Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
43. 8:50Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
44. 9:01We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
45. 9:15If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
46. 9:29Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
47. 9:41Let this be easy, if easy is available.
48. 9:52Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
49. 10:06Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
50. 10:16If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
51. 10:29If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
52. 10:42Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
53. 10:53No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
54. 11:04Notice how the fear about money in the night changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
55. 11:22Let the exhale carry a little of the arithmetic that will not balance with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
56. 11:42Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
57. 11:53This is not the last time the worry that follows the bills will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
58. 12:12Notice where the fear about money in the night lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
59. 12:31Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
60. 12:42If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
61. 12:55If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
62. 13:09If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
63. 13:20Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
64. 13:32Nothing here needs to be efficient.
65. 13:42Nothing changes for a moment.
66. 13:51Let your eyes open when they're ready, not when the words end.
67. 14:04Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
68. 14:17Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

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