Meditation for fatigue: 7-minute self-compassion session, before bedtime

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for fatigue. A self-compassion session you can do before bedtime. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: fatigue

Fatigue is deep tiredness of the kind that sleep does not fully clear, usually after a stretch of sustained demand.

It tends to show up as:

• Tired behind the eyes all day
• Heavy limbs
• Rest that does not refresh

Here the practice should be restful rather than stimulating. Quiet and unambitious is the right dose.

Doing this before sleep

• Dim the lights and put the phone out of reach
• Do it in bed if that helps you stay there
• Let yourself fall asleep rather than finishing it

Checking anything afterwards undoes most of it. Let this be the last thing.

How self-compassion works

Self-compassion practice changes the tone of the inner voice rather than the content of the thoughts. It uses the same warmth and steadiness you would offer a friend, applied without requiring you to have earned it.

• Use the words you would actually say to someone you love
• Ask what you need, not what you deserve
• A hand on the chest or belly gives warmth and pressure a place to land

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up.
2. 0:15You are allowed to have a hard time without earning it first.
3. 0:28You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
4. 0:42If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
5. 0:56Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
6. 1:09Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
7. 1:20Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
8. 1:31Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
9. 1:42Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
10. 1:54There is no correct amount of the bone-deep tiredness to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
11. 2:11Let the heaviness behind your eyes be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
12. 2:31Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
13. 2:44Take the next breath slowly.
14. 2:53If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
15. 3:07Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
16. 3:18Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
17. 3:32Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
18. 3:44Say it once, plainly: this is hard, and I am allowed to find it hard.
19. 3:58If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
20. 4:11Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
21. 4:24A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
22. 4:35Notice how the end of the reserves changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
23. 4:52Feel the weight of the bone-deep tiredness somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
24. 5:08Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
25. 5:22You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
26. 5:34Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
27. 5:46I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
28. 5:58Whatever you are about to say to yourself, imagine saying it to someone you love. Use those words.
29. 6:14If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
30. 6:28Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.

Questions people ask

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