Letting go meditation for exhaustion (15 min), on the way in

About this practice

A 15-minute letting go session for exhaustion, on the way in. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: exhaustion

Exhaustion is what is left after the reserves are gone. The body has stopped asking; it is now insisting.

It tends to show up as:

• Feeling hollow and drained
• Emotionally flat
• Physical heaviness all day

This is not the state to push in. The whole point here is to ask nothing and let the body be heavy.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

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. 0:00Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions.
2. 0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
3. 0:28Let the rhythm of your breathing set the pace, not the words.
4. 0:41There's no correct speed. Slower isn't better. Steadier is the only aim.
5. 0:54Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6. 1:08Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
7. 1:21Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
8. 1:33Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
9. 1:45Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
10. 1:57Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
11. 2:09Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
12. 2:22You do not have to win against the hollow tiredness. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
13. 2:39the body asking you to stop may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
14. 2:57If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
15. 3:11Notice the space around the drained feeling that rest has not touched. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
16. 3:30If the hollow tiredness shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
17. 3:49Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
18. 4:01No rush to move on.
19. 4:10Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
20. 4:24Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
21. 4:34Let the quiet do its work.
22. 4:44Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
23. 4:57Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
24. 5:09No need to open your eyes yet.
25. 5:19Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
26. 5:32Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
27. 5:44Nothing changes for a moment.
28. 5:53Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
29. 6:06Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
30. 6:20No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
31. 6:31If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
32. 6:45Keep following the air.
33. 6:54Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
34. 7:08I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
35. 7:21Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
36. 7:32Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
37. 7:45Stay here a little longer.
38. 7:54If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
39. 8:08A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
40. 8:19Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
41. 8:35Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
42. 8:46Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
43. 8:57Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
44. 9:13Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
45. 9:25Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
46. 9:37We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
47. 9:52Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
48. 10:06Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
49. 10:17You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
50. 10:32If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
51. 10:46Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
52. 10:58Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
53. 11:09Imagine softening the edges of the body asking you to stop. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
54. 11:27Whatever the drained feeling that rest has not touched is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
55. 11:44Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
56. 11:55You do not have to like the hollow tiredness to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
57. 12:11You do not have to solve the body asking you to stop in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
58. 12:31Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
59. 12:42Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
60. 12:54If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
61. 13:08If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
62. 13:22A short silence. Let it be empty.
63. 13:32Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
64. 13:47Stay with it.
65. 13:55Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
66. 14:08Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
67. 14:21A few seconds more.

Questions people ask

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