Meditation for agitation: 12-minute letting go session, before a presentation

About this practice

When agitation shows up before a presentation, this 12-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: agitation

Agitation is activation without an outlet. The body wants to move, the mind wants to switch tasks, and neither discharges the energy.

It tends to show up as:

• Restless, unable to sit through anything
• Switching tasks every few minutes
• Fidgeting without noticing

Channel the movement rather than suppressing it. Slow, deliberate physical attention gives the restlessness somewhere to go.

Doing this before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

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. 0:00There is nothing to get right here. Nothing is being scored.
2. 0:12We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
3. 0:27For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:41We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
5. 0:55Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
6. 1:09Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
7. 1:22Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
8. 1:34Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
9. 1:47Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
10. 1:59Feel the tops of your thighs.
11. 2:09Nothing about the restlessness that will not sit still has to be explained or justified in this room.
12. 2:25the jumpy energy looking for an outlet may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
13. 2:44Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
14. 2:57If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
15. 3:10Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
16. 3:26A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
17. 3:37If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
18. 3:51Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
19. 4:07A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
20. 4:18If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
21. 4:32Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
22. 4:47A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
23. 4:58If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
24. 5:12With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
25. 5:27I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
26. 5:40Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
27. 5:52Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
28. 6:06Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
29. 6:20Nothing changes for a moment.
30. 6:29Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
31. 6:41Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
32. 6:54Just the breath, still.
33. 7:03Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
34. 7:14Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
35. 7:27No rush to move on.
36. 7:36Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
37. 7:47Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
38. 7:58Stay here a little longer.
39. 8:07Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
40. 8:18You have been carrying the fidgeting that cannot settle for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
41. 8:38Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
42. 8:50Give the restlessness that will not sit still a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
43. 9:09Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
44. 9:23Let the exhale carry a little of the jumpy energy looking for an outlet with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
45. 9:43Feel the weight of the fidgeting that cannot settle somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
46. 10:00Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
47. 10:14Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
48. 10:25Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
49. 10:36Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
50. 10:47You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
51. 11:02Let the pause stretch out.
52. 11:11Roll your neck once, slowly, in whichever direction feels good.
53. 11:23Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry 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.