Letting go for mindfulness: 5 minutes, in a five-minute break

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for mindfulness. A letting go session you can do in a five-minute break. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: mindfulness

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making.

It tends to show up as:

Missing conversations while composing replies
Arriving somewhere with no memory of the walk
Eating without tasting

Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Doing this on a break

Leave the room if you can
Do not start anything else in the same gap
Set a timer so the break has an end

A break spent half-engaged with a screen is not much of a break. Guard the whole five minutes.

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

0:00Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions.
0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
0:28Notice the pause at the end of each breath. It's short, but it's there.
0:42You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
0:56Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
1:08Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
1:21Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
1:34Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
1:45Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
1:57Stay here a little longer.
2:06Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
2:22Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
2:36This is not the last time the present moment you keep leaving will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
2:55Notice where the here-and-now your attention skips lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
3:13Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
3:27the ordinary present tense may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
3:44If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
3:59Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
4:11Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
4:27Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
4:40Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making. Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Where and when should I do this one?

Leave the room if you can. A break spent half-engaged with a screen is not much of a break. Guard the whole five minutes.

What actually happens during the 5 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.