Grounding for frustration: 10 minutes, on the way in

About this practice

When frustration shows up on the way in, this 10-minute grounding session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: frustration

Frustration is blocked progress, repeated. Each small obstruction adds to a background irritation that eventually has nothing to do with the original cause.

It tends to show up as:

• Sighing more than usual
• Everything feeling slightly too slow
• A short fuse over minor things

Releasing some physical tension interrupts the accumulation. Frustration is often held in the jaw and hands more than it is thought about.

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 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. 0:00Start with the noise that is already in the room. We are not going to try to remove it yet.
2. 0:17If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
3. 0:32Let the rhythm of your breathing set the pace, not the words.
4. 0:45Let your attention rest on the out-breath. The in-breath can take care of itself.
5. 0:59Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
6. 1:13Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
7. 1:25Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
8. 1:37Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
9. 1:49Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
10. 2:01Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
11. 2:13If the repeated small irritations starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
12. 2:29If the jaw tight with frustration shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
13. 2:49Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
14. 3:02Name what you can see, hear and touch. Counting senses is not a distraction; it is the practice.
15. 3:18Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
16. 3:30If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
17. 3:45Press down slightly and feel the push back. Your body already knows where it is.
18. 3:59I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
19. 4:11You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
20. 4:23The floor is holding you right now. You do not have to hold yourself up.
21. 4:37A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
22. 4:48Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
23. 5:02Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
24. 5:15Just the breath, still.
25. 5:24Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
26. 5:36Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
27. 5:47Stay with it.
28. 5:55Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
29. 6:09Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
30. 6:22Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
31. 6:32Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
32. 6:44Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
33. 6:58A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
34. 7:09You do not have to win against the annoyance that will not settle. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
35. 7:27If the repeated small irritations has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
36. 7:44Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
37. 7:55When the jaw tight with frustration arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
38. 8:14Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
39. 8:25If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
40. 8:38A short silence. Let it be empty.
41. 8:48Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
42. 9:02Take the next breath slowly.
43. 9:11Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
44. 9:24Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.

Questions people ask

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