Grounding meditation for stress (5 min), on the morning of an interview

About this practice

5 minutes to meet stress with less of a fight. A grounding practice, on the morning of an interview. A guided session of about 5 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 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. 0:00Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point.
2. 0:15Press down slightly and feel the push back. Your body already knows where it is.
3. 0:29We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
4. 0:43You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
5. 0:57Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
6. 1:10Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
7. 1:24Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
8. 1:36Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
9. 1:48Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
10. 2:01A few seconds more.
11. 2:10Come back to the solid things: weight, temperature, surface. They are always available.
12. 2:23Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
13. 2:37This is not the last time the tension of too much on the plate will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
14. 2:57Let the exhale carry a little of the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
15. 3:17Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
16. 3:31Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
17. 3:48If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
18. 4:02Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
19. 4:14Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
20. 4:28When you're ready, look around properly.
21. 4:38No rush to move on.

Questions people ask

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