Meditation for contentment: 15-minute letting go session, after a bad day

About this practice

A 15-minute letting go session for contentment, after a bad day. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

• Arriving without enjoying the arrival
• Immediately wanting the next thing
• Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Doing this after a bad day

• Do not review the day during it — that is what tomorrow is for
• Something physical first, then this
• Keep it short and end it deliberately

A bad day does not need a verdict. Closing it without a post-mortem is allowed.

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. 0:00Begin with the simple fact that you got here. That already happened.
2. 0:13We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
3. 0:23Notice the pause at the end of each breath. It's short, but it's there.
4. 0:37For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
5. 0:51Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
6. 1:04Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7. 1:19Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
8. 1:30Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
9. 1:41Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
10. 1:53Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
11. 2:05Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
12. 2:15Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the calm of not wanting more this minute is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
13. 2:35Give the settled feeling after striving a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
14. 2:53Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
15. 3:07the enough-ness of right now may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
16. 3:25Feel the weight of the calm of not wanting more this minute somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
17. 3:43Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
18. 3:57Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
19. 4:07Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
20. 4:23Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
21. 4:35A few seconds more.
22. 4:44Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
23. 4:58Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
24. 5:10Stay here a little longer.
25. 5:19Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
26. 5:32Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
27. 5:43Let the pause stretch out.
28. 5:52Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
29. 6:03Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
30. 6:14No need to open your eyes yet.
31. 6:24Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
32. 6:37Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
33. 6:51Let the quiet do its work.
34. 7:01Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
35. 7:12Nothing here needs to be efficient.
36. 7:22Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
37. 7:34A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
38. 7:45Small efforts are the whole method.
39. 7:55Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
40. 8:07Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
41. 8:18There's no need to try harder than this.
42. 8:29If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
43. 8:43I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
44. 8:56You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
45. 9:09If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
46. 9:23Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
47. 9:34Let this be easy, if easy is available.
48. 9:45Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
49. 9:57A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
50. 10:08If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
51. 10:21Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
52. 10:34Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
53. 10:47Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
54. 10:59Picture the settled feeling after striving as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
55. 11:18There is no correct amount of the enough-ness of right now to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
56. 11:36Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
57. 11:50Each time your mind hands you the calm of not wanting more this minute, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
58. 12:11You do not have to like the settled feeling after striving to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
59. 12:28Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
60. 12:44Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
61. 12:55If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
62. 13:06Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
63. 13:20A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
64. 13:31We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
65. 13:45Just the breath, still.
66. 13:54Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
67. 14:09Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.
68. 14:19Let 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.