Gratitude for stress: 7 minutes, before an interview

About this practice

When stress shows up before an interview, this 7-minute gratitude session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: stress

Stress is a load that does not come off. Muscle tension accumulates in the shoulders, jaw and gut, and the body stops returning to baseline between demands.

It tends to show up as:

• Shoulders sitting up near the ears
• Short temper over small things
• Waking already tired

Short practices work on the physical part of the load. They do not remove the demands, but they stop the body storing all of them.

Doing this before an interview

• Do it where you will not be interrupted, even if that is a stairwell
• Have the first sentence of your answer ready afterwards
• Keep it short — there is no time for a long session

Nerves before an interview are normal and not something to eliminate. You need access to what you know, nothing more.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your forehead smooth out. Most of us hold a small frown there all day.
2. 0:14If nothing comes, notice that something did not go wrong. That also counts.
3. 0:27Settle into the fact that for the next few minutes, nothing is required of you.
4. 0:41Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
5. 0:53Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
6. 1:06Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
7. 1:20Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
8. 1:32Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
9. 1:44Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
10. 1:55Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
11. 2:12Give the tension of too much on the plate a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
12. 2:31Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
13. 2:43Stay with it.
14. 2:51Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
15. 3:05Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
16. 3:19If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
17. 3:32A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
18. 3:43There is no need to feel grateful. Just look, and see what is actually there.
19. 3:57If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
20. 4:12Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
21. 4:25I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
22. 4:38Imagine softening the edges of the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
23. 4:57You have been carrying the load you are carrying for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
24. 5:17Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
25. 5:30If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
26. 5:44Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
27. 5:55A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
28. 6:06Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
29. 6:19Notice if anything has loosened. Even slightly counts.
30. 6:30Let the next breath be the start of the rest of the day.

Questions people ask

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