Letting go meditation for burnout (15 min), on a Sunday

About this practice

For the times on a Sunday when burnout takes up more room than you would like — 15 minutes, letting go. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: burnout

Burnout is not tiredness you can sleep off. It is a flat, depleted state after prolonged effort, where the usual rewards stop registering.

It tends to show up as:

• Flatness rather than sadness
• Cynicism about work you used to care about
• Rest that does not restore anything

Recovery is not a push. Gentle practices that ask nothing of you are more useful here than anything with a target.

Doing this at the weekend

• Do it without a schedule to justify it
• Later in the morning, in better light, usually works well
• Let the length be open-ended if the time allows

Recovery is not something you have to earn first, and treating it as a reward keeps it conditional.

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. 0:00If you're tired, you can let that be true. Tired is allowed here.
2. 0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
3. 0:28If your mind is loud, that's information, not failure.
4. 0:39You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
5. 0:51Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
6. 1:05Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7. 1:20Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
8. 1:33Feel your calves, front and back.
9. 1:43Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
10. 1:56Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
11. 2:07Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
12. 2:19Imagine softening the edges of the flatness after pushing too long. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
13. 2:37When the worn-down feeling that coffee cannot fix presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
14. 2:57Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
15. 3:11If the distance between you and the work you used to love starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
16. 3:30Think of the flatness after pushing too long as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
17. 3:48Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
18. 4:00Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
19. 4:10Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
20. 4:22Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
21. 4:34Let the quiet do its work.
22. 4:44Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
23. 4:57Feel the tops of your thighs.
24. 5:07No rush to move on.
25. 5:16Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
26. 5:30Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
27. 5:42Let your body keep settling.
28. 5:51Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
29. 6:02Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
30. 6:14I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
31. 6:27If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
32. 6:40Stay here a little longer.
33. 6:49Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
34. 7:02I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
35. 7:14Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
36. 7:26Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
37. 7:40Stay with it.
38. 7:48Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
39. 7:59Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
40. 8:11Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
41. 8:27Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
42. 8:40I'll step back. You stay here.
43. 8:50We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
44. 9:05Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
45. 9:18Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
46. 9:30Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
47. 9:46Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
48. 9:57Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
49. 10:09You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
50. 10:24If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
51. 10:38Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
52. 10:49Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
53. 11:00Notice where the worn-down feeling that coffee cannot fix lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
54. 11:19Give the distance between you and the work you used to love a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
55. 11:39Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
56. 11:53You do not have to like the flatness after pushing too long to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
57. 12:10You have been carrying the worn-down feeling that coffee cannot fix for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
58. 12:31Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
59. 12:45If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
60. 12:56Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
61. 13:07Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
62. 13:21Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
63. 13:32Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
64. 13:47Nothing changes for a moment.
65. 13:56Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
66. 14:09Start to notice the edges of your body again, and the surface you're 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.