Letting go meditation for the afternoon slump (15 min), before sleep

About this practice

When the afternoon slump shows up before sleep, this 15-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: the afternoon slump

The post-lunch dip is a normal circadian low, not a failure of willpower. Core temperature and alertness both dip in the early afternoon.

It tends to show up as:

Heavy, foggy middle of the day
Struggling to stay with anything
Reaching for sugar or caffeine

The dip is temporary. A short practice gets you through the low without adding stimulants on top of it.

Doing this before sleep

Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach
Do it in bed if that helps you stay there
Let yourself fall asleep rather than finishing it

Checking anything afterwards undoes most of it. Let this be the last thing.

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

0:00Notice where your body touches the chair. That contact is doing more for you than it looks.
0:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
0:30Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
0:48Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
1:04If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
1:18Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
1:30Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
1:40Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
1:54Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
2:07Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
2:19Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
2:33Picture the 3pm dip as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
2:51the post-lunch fog may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
3:08Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
3:22Whatever the heavy middle of the day is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
3:38You are allowed to be unimpressed by the 3pm dip. Indifference is a legitimate response.
3:52Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
4:04Let the pause stretch out.
4:13Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
4:27Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
4:40Stay here a little longer.
4:49Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
5:00Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
5:13Let it be this simple.
5:22Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
5:37Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
5:49Take the next breath slowly.
5:58Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6:12Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
6:25Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
6:37Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
6:51No rush to move on.
7:00Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
7:14Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
7:25Feel your calves, front and back.
7:35Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
7:49Keep following the air.
7:58If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
8:11Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
8:22We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
8:37Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
8:48A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
8:59Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
9:15If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
9:26I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
9:39With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
9:54Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
10:06Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
10:17Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
10:33If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
10:47Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
11:03Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
11:14Feel the weight of the post-lunch fog somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
11:30If the heavy middle of the day starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
11:47Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
11:58Let the exhale carry a little of the 3pm dip with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
12:17When the post-lunch fog arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
12:35Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
12:46If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
12:59Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
13:11If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
13:25I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
13:37You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
13:52Let your body keep settling.
14:01When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
14:14Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

The post-lunch dip is a normal circadian low, not a failure of willpower. Core temperature and alertness both dip in the early afternoon. The dip is temporary. A short practice gets you through the low without adding stimulants on top of it.

Where and when should I do this one?

Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach. Checking anything afterwards undoes most of it. Let this be the last thing.

What actually happens during the 15 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.