Meditation for sadness: 20-minute letting go session, on the train

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 20 minutes of letting go for sadness, on the train. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: sadness

Low mood physically shows up as heaviness — a weight behind the eyes, slow movement, and a body that feels harder to lift.

It tends to show up as:

• Tears arriving on their own
• Everything feeling like an effort
• Withdrawing without deciding to

Sadness does not need to be argued away. Being steady and unhurried beside it is often more useful than trying to feel better.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

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. 0:00If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up.
2. 0:15Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:30For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:44Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
5. 1:00Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
6. 1:11Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
7. 1:25Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
8. 1:37Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
9. 1:49Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
10. 2:01Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
11. 2:13Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
12. 2:27Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the grey weight of low mood is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
13. 2:46This is not the last time the tears that arrive on their own will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
14. 3:06Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
15. 3:19Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
16. 3:36Imagine the grey weight of low mood as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
17. 3:55Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
18. 4:08Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
19. 4:21We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
20. 4:36A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
21. 4:47If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
22. 5:00Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
23. 5:16Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
24. 5:28If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
25. 5:42With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
26. 5:57I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
27. 6:09If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
28. 6:23Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
29. 6:39No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
30. 6:50Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
31. 7:02Keep following the air.
32. 7:11Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
33. 7:26Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
34. 7:36A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
35. 7:47Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
36. 8:00A few seconds more.
37. 8:09Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
38. 8:20Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
39. 8:30I'll step back. You stay here.
40. 8:40Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
41. 8:51Nothing changes for a moment.
42. 9:00Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
43. 9:14Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
44. 9:27Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
45. 9:38Let the pause stretch out.
46. 9:47If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
47. 10:00I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
48. 10:12Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
49. 10:24Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
50. 10:37Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
51. 10:47If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
52. 11:02Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
53. 11:14Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
54. 11:26Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
55. 11:42Stay with it.
56. 11:50Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
57. 12:03A short silence. Let it be empty.
58. 12:13Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
59. 12:24Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
60. 12:38Stay here a little longer.
61. 12:47Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
62. 12:59Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
63. 13:11No need to open your eyes yet.
64. 13:21Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
65. 13:32Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
66. 13:44Remain here for a few more breaths.
67. 13:54Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
68. 14:07Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
69. 14:23Let this one be unhurried.
70. 14:32Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
71. 14:45Feel the weight of the tears that arrive on their own somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
72. 15:03Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
73. 15:14If the quiet ache behind the eyes has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
74. 15:32Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
75. 15:46Think of the grey weight of low mood as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
76. 16:04Each time your mind hands you the tears that arrive on their own, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
77. 16:24Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
78. 16:38Give the quiet ache behind the eyes a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
79. 16:56If the grey weight of low mood shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
80. 17:17Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
81. 17:31If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
82. 17:44Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
83. 17:55If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
84. 18:09A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
85. 18:20You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
86. 18:35Just the breath, still.
87. 18:44Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
88. 18:57If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
89. 19:11Let 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.