Meditation for being present: 5-minute noting session, at midday

About this practice

When being present shows up at midday, this 5-minute noting session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: being present

Life happens in the present while attention is busy elsewhere. Nothing is missing except the noticing.

It tends to show up as:

• Days blurring together
• Feeling absent from your own week
• Only registering moments in photographs

Sensory attention is the shortest route back. Sound, contact and breath are always in the present.

Doing this at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Rest your hands somewhere they don't have to do anything.
2. 0:12A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
3. 0:27Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
4. 0:43Let your attention rest on the out-breath. The in-breath can take care of itself.
5. 0:57Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
6. 1:10If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
7. 1:24Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
8. 1:35Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
9. 1:45Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
10. 1:57Just the breath, still.
11. 2:06You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
12. 2:21Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
13. 2:33This is not the last time the wandering back to now will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
14. 2:52the life happening while you worry may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
15. 3:10Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
16. 3:22You do not have to solve the texture of this exact moment in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
17. 3:42If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
18. 3:56A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
19. 4:07Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
20. 4:22When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
21. 4:35Let your body keep settling.

Questions people ask

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