Health anxiety: 10-minute letting go meditation, in the evening

About this practice

10 minutes to meet health anxiety with less of a fight. A letting go practice, in the evening. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: health anxiety

Health anxiety runs on a loop of scanning and checking. Each check briefly relieves the fear and then strengthens it, because the relief teaches the brain that checking was necessary.

It tends to show up as:

Repeatedly checking a symptom or a pulse
Searching symptoms late at night
Reassurance that only helps for an hour

Attention moved out of the head and into the body as a whole reduces scanning. You are not arguing with the worry, just giving it less to grip.

Doing this in the evening

Dim the lights first — bright light works against the point
Put the phone in another room
Keep it slow rather than interesting

Something too engaging will wake you up rather than wind you down.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

0:00Take a moment to notice the room behind you, without turning around.
0:13Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
0:29Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
0:44We'll be quiet for a bit longer than usual. Stay with whatever shows up.
0:58Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
1:13Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
1:27Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
1:38Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
1:50Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
2:04Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
2:15If the habit of checking for something wrong is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
2:33Nothing about the fear attached to each new symptom has to be explained or justified in this room.
2:49Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
3:01Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3:16I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
3:28If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
3:39You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
3:54Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
4:04If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
4:19With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
4:34A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
4:45Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
4:59Remain here for a few more breaths.
5:09Feel your calves, front and back.
5:19Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
5:32Just the breath, still.
5:41Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
5:52Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
6:04Stay here a little longer.
6:13Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
6:25Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
6:36I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
6:48Notice how the worry about what your body might be telling you changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
7:07Feel the weight of the habit of checking for something wrong somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
7:25Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
7:39If you catch yourself fighting the fear attached to each new symptom, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
7:58If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
8:12If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
8:25I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
8:38Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
8:54Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
9:04Come back at your own speed. The room will wait.
9:16When you're ready, look around properly.
9:26Let this one be unhurried.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Health anxiety runs on a loop of scanning and checking. Each check briefly relieves the fear and then strengthens it, because the relief teaches the brain that checking was necessary. Attention moved out of the head and into the body as a whole reduces scanning. You are not arguing with the worry, just giving it less to grip.

Where and when should I do this one?

Dim the lights first — bright light works against the point. Something too engaging will wake you up rather than wind you down.

What actually happens during the 10 minutes?

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

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