Meditation for back pain and tension: 10-minute letting go session, late at night

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 10 minutes of letting go for back pain and tension, late at night. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: back pain and tension

Much of daily back discomfort is muscular load rather than structural damage — muscles holding a position long after they should have let go.

It tends to show up as:

• Lower back ache after sitting
• Stiffness on standing
• Pain that improves when moving

Attention moves into the back rather than away from it. Being willing to feel it is usually where release starts.

Doing this at night

• Skip the clock — knowing the time rarely helps at night
• Keep the room dark, and use headphones rather than a speaker
• Expect to be awake for a while without treating that as a problem

Any practice at night works better with the display off. Looking at a screen resets the whole 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

1. 0:00Unclench your jaw. You were probably holding it without noticing.
2. 0:12Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:27Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
4. 0:45You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
5. 0:59Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
6. 1:11Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
7. 1:27Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
8. 1:40Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
9. 1:54Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
10. 2:06Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
11. 2:17There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
12. 2:35You do not have to solve the stiffness from sitting in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
13. 2:54If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
14. 3:08With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
15. 3:23Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
16. 3:35If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
17. 3:49Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
18. 4:05Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
19. 4:16Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
20. 4:29You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
21. 4:44Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
22. 4:54Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
23. 5:07Let the pause stretch out.
24. 5:16Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
25. 5:29Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
26. 5:44No need to open your eyes yet.
27. 5:54Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
28. 6:06Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
29. 6:17Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
30. 6:27Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
31. 6:38Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
32. 6:52I'll step back. You stay here.
33. 7:02Picture the ache in the lower back as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
34. 7:21the muscles holding on all day may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
35. 7:39Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
36. 7:52Feel the weight of the stiffness from sitting somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
37. 8:08Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
38. 8:21If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
39. 8:34A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
40. 8:45Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
41. 9:01Let your body keep settling.
42. 9:10Let your jaw, shoulders and hands be loose as you finish.
43. 9:22If you drifted off, that was rest, and rest counts.

Questions people ask

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