Meditation for contentment: 7-minute breathing session, on a slow Sunday

About this practice

When contentment shows up on a slow Sunday, this 7-minute breathing session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 7 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 on a rest day

• Do it without a reason or a target
• Later in the day, unhurried, in good light
• Let it be longer than usual if you want

Rest that has to be justified is not really rest. This one is allowed to be pointless.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Part of you is still in the last conversation you had. That's fine. It can sit here too.
2. 0:16If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
3. 0:32Nothing here needs to be pleasant. Neutral is fine. Dull is fine.
4. 0:45Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
5. 0:59Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
6. 1:12Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
7. 1:25Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
8. 1:37Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
9. 1:49Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
10. 2:01There is no correct amount of the calm of not wanting more this minute to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
11. 2:20You do not have to solve the settled feeling after striving in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
12. 2:39Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
13. 2:51Just the breath, still.
14. 3:00Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
15. 3:11Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
16. 3:23Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
17. 3:34Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
18. 3:48If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
19. 4:02Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
20. 4:13A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
21. 4:24Let the enough-ness of right now be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
22. 4:44Notice where the calm of not wanting more this minute lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
23. 5:03Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
24. 5:17Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
25. 5:29Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
26. 5:40I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
27. 5:52Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
28. 6:06Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
29. 6:20Come back at your own speed. The room will wait.
30. 6:32Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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