Letting go meditation for exhaustion (7 min), at bedtime

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 7 minutes of letting go for exhaustion, at bedtime. A guided session of about 7 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 before bed

• Do it in bed or somewhere you can move straight to bed after
• Lower the light, and do not check anything afterwards
• If you fall asleep before the end, it worked

Falling asleep mid-session is a success, not a failure to complete it.

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. 0:00Quick check: is anything genuinely urgent in this exact minute? Usually the answer is no.
2. 0:14Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
3. 0:30If your mind is loud, that's information, not failure.
4. 0:41We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
5. 0:55Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
6. 1:09Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
7. 1:22Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
8. 1:36Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
9. 1:50Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
10. 2:02There is no correct amount of the drained feeling that rest has not touched to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
11. 2:21Feel the weight of the hollow tiredness somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
12. 2:37Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
13. 2:50Nothing changes for a moment.
14. 2:59Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
15. 3:15Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
16. 3:27Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
17. 3:39With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
18. 3:54Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
19. 4:07Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
20. 4:20A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
21. 4:31Whatever the body asking you to stop is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
22. 4:47You do not have to win against the drained feeling that rest has not touched. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
23. 5:06Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
24. 5:18Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
25. 5:32Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
26. 5:43I'll step back. You stay here.
27. 5:53We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
28. 6:08Come back at your own speed. The room will wait.
29. 6:20If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
30. 6:34Let it be this simple.

Questions people ask

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