Letting go for anticipatory anxiety: 10 minutes, at lunch

About this practice

When anticipatory anxiety shows up at lunch, this 10-minute letting go 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: anticipatory anxiety

Dread of an upcoming event is often heavier than the event itself. The waiting period keeps the body in low-level alert for days.

It tends to show up as:

• Stomach dropping when you remember what is coming
• Sleep getting worse as the date approaches
• Wanting to cancel to get relief

The anticipation is a state, not a warning. Practising being in the present while the dread is present teaches the body it can wait without bracing.

Doing this at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

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

1. 0:00Put a hand on your chest for a moment if that feels steadying. Or don't. Both are allowed.
2. 0:16Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
3. 0:32Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
4. 0:46Let the last hour go on its own. You can pick it up again afterwards.
5. 1:00Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
6. 1:13Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
7. 1:26Feel the tops of your thighs.
8. 1:36Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
9. 1:48Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
10. 2:00Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
11. 2:12Give the dread of an event that has not happened a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
12. 2:31Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
13. 2:48You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
14. 3:00Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
15. 3:16I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
16. 3:28If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
17. 3:40You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
18. 3:55A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
19. 4:06If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
20. 4:19Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
21. 4:34Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
22. 4:45If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
23. 4:59Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
24. 5:10Let your body keep settling.
25. 5:19Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
26. 5:31Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
27. 5:42Keep following the air.
28. 5:51Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
29. 6:03Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
30. 6:17Just the breath, still.
31. 6:26Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
32. 6:38Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
33. 6:50Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
34. 7:00If the nervous hours before has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
35. 7:17Notice how the dread of an event that has not happened changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
36. 7:36Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
37. 7:48Let the waiting that feels heavier than the thing be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
38. 8:09If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
39. 8:24If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
40. 8:37A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
41. 8:48With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
42. 9:03Stay with it.
43. 9:11Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
44. 9:26When you're ready, look around properly.

Questions people ask

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