Low energy: 12-minute softening meditation, when you wake at 3am

About this practice

12 minutes to meet low energy with less of a fight. A softening practice, when you wake at 3am. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: low energy

Low energy is a flat battery, not laziness. Pushing through it further drains reserves and produces worse work, faster.

It tends to show up as:

• Everything feeling like an effort
• Procrastinating on simple tasks
• Tiredness sitting deep in the body

A short practice will not restore the reserve, but it removes some of the tension that is draining it.

Doing this at 3am

• Do not check the time and do not turn on a light
• Stay lying down if you can — sitting up makes it harder to return to sleep
• Do not try to solve anything that arrives at this hour

Problems at 3am feel enormous because of chemistry, not because they are actually bigger. Defer them.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions.
2. 0:13Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
3. 0:27Notice the weight of your arms without moving them.
4. 0:38Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
5. 0:52Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
6. 1:05Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
7. 1:16Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
8. 1:27Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
9. 1:41Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
10. 1:52Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
11. 2:03Give the effort everything takes a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
12. 2:20Let the exhale carry a little of the flat battery feeling with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
13. 2:39Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
14. 2:53If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
15. 3:07With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
16. 3:22I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
17. 3:34If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
18. 3:48Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
19. 4:01No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
20. 4:12Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
21. 4:23If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
22. 4:38Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
23. 4:49If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
24. 5:02Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
25. 5:16Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
26. 5:28If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
27. 5:42Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
28. 5:54Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
29. 6:05Let it be this simple.
30. 6:14Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
31. 6:27Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
32. 6:41Let the quiet do its work.
33. 6:51Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
34. 7:03Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
35. 7:15Remain here for a few more breaths.
36. 7:25Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
37. 7:35Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
38. 7:50Let this one be unhurried.
39. 7:59Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
40. 8:10If you catch yourself fighting the tiredness that sits in the bones, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
41. 8:29Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
42. 8:41You do not have to win against the effort everything takes. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
43. 8:58Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
44. 9:11Notice how the flat battery feeling changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
45. 9:27You have been carrying the tiredness that sits in the bones for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
46. 9:48Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
47. 10:01Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
48. 10:14If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
49. 10:28A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
50. 10:39We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
51. 10:53Take the next breath slowly.
52. 11:02Wiggle your fingers and toes, gently, like you're testing that they still work.
53. 11:15Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
54. 11:25Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

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