Letting go for tired eyes: 12 minutes, at 3pm

About this practice

When tired eyes shows up at 3pm, this 12-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tired eyes

Screens reduce blink rate sharply, and the muscles that focus at close range stay contracted. The result is strain, ache and blur by the end of the day.

It tends to show up as:

• Aching, gritty eyes after screen time
• Blurring at the end of the day
• Headaches above the eyes

Closing the eyes is the only real rest they get. A few minutes without visual input is the specific thing your eyes are short of.

Doing this in the mid-afternoon

• Sit upright and open a window if you can
• Expect heaviness rather than fighting it
• A short session here beats a longer one that never happens

The dip is a normal circadian low. You are riding it out, not correcting a fault.

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. 0:00Loosen your grip on whatever you're holding, or imagine loosening it.
2. 0:12With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
3. 0:27We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:41Let the rhythm of your breathing set the pace, not the words.
5. 0:54Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
6. 1:07Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
7. 1:20Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
8. 1:33Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
9. 1:45Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 1:56Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
11. 2:09Imagine softening the edges of the strained eyes after screens. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
12. 2:27You do not have to win against the heavy lids of a screen-lit day. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
13. 2:46Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
14. 2:57Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
15. 3:11You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
16. 3:26I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
17. 3:38If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
18. 3:51Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
19. 4:07Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
20. 4:19If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
21. 4:33Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
22. 4:49I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
23. 5:01If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
24. 5:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
25. 5:30Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
26. 5:41Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
27. 5:54Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
28. 6:07No rush to move on.
29. 6:16Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
30. 6:28Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
31. 6:42Take the next breath slowly.
32. 6:51Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
33. 7:03Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
34. 7:14A few seconds more.
35. 7:23Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
36. 7:35Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
37. 7:49Stay here a little longer.
38. 7:58Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
39. 8:10Nothing about the ache of staring too long has to be explained or justified in this room.
40. 8:25Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
41. 8:36If you catch yourself fighting the strained eyes after screens, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
42. 8:54Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
43. 9:08Notice the space around the heavy lids of a screen-lit day. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
44. 9:27Notice where the ache of staring too long lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
45. 9:46Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
46. 10:00Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
47. 10:12If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
48. 10:25Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
49. 10:36We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
50. 10:51Nothing changes for a moment.
51. 11:00Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.
52. 11:12Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.
53. 11:22Remain here for a few more breaths.

Questions people ask

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