Grounding for contentment: 10 minutes, on a Saturday morning

About this practice

For the times on a Saturday morning when contentment takes up more room than you would like — 10 minutes, grounding. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

• Arriving without enjoying the arrival
• Immediately wanting the next thing
• Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Doing this at the weekend

• Do it without a schedule to justify it
• Later in the morning, in better light, usually works well
• Let the length be open-ended if the time allows

Recovery is not something you have to earn first, and treating it as a reward keeps it conditional.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00You don't have to empty your mind. Nobody has ever managed that, including the people who wrote the instructions.
2. 0:16The floor is holding you right now. You do not have to hold yourself up.
3. 0:30Let your breathing find its own pace. We're only going to watch it.
4. 0:43Let your attention rest on the out-breath. The in-breath can take care of itself.
5. 0:57Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
6. 1:11Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
7. 1:25Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
8. 1:36Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
9. 1:47Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
10. 1:58Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
11. 2:09This is not the last time the settled feeling after striving will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
12. 2:28Notice the space around the enough-ness of right now. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
13. 2:46If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
14. 3:01If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
15. 3:16A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
16. 3:27Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
17. 3:38Come back to the solid things: weight, temperature, surface. They are always available.
18. 3:51I'll step back. You stay here.
19. 4:01If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
20. 4:12Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
21. 4:26Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
22. 4:38Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
23. 4:52Let your body keep settling.
24. 5:01Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
25. 5:15Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
26. 5:27Nothing changes for a moment.
27. 5:36Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
28. 5:49If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
29. 6:03Let this one be unhurried.
30. 6:12Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
31. 6:25Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
32. 6:38Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
33. 6:50Let the calm of not wanting more this minute be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
34. 7:11Whatever the settled feeling after striving is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
35. 7:26Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
36. 7:41There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
37. 7:59Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
38. 8:13If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
39. 8:27Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
40. 8:39Press down slightly and feel the push back. Your body already knows where it is.
41. 8:53Remain here for a few more breaths.
42. 9:03Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
43. 9:16Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.
44. 9:26Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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