Meditation for stress: 15-minute letting go session, on a meeting break

About this practice

When stress shows up on a meeting break, this 15-minute letting go session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: stress

Stress is a load that does not come off. Muscle tension accumulates in the shoulders, jaw and gut, and the body stops returning to baseline between demands.

It tends to show up as:

Shoulders sitting up near the ears
Short temper over small things
Waking already tired

Short practices work on the physical part of the load. They do not remove the demands, but they stop the body storing all of them.

Doing this between meetings

Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins
Write down the open thread from the last meeting first, then let it go
Two minutes done beats five minutes planned

The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

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

0:00Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second.
0:13Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
0:29Nothing here needs to be pleasant. Neutral is fine. Dull is fine.
0:42We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
0:56Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
1:07Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
1:20Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
1:32Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
1:46Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
1:57Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
2:09Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
2:19Nothing about the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin has to be explained or justified in this room.
2:35Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the load you are carrying is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
2:54Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
3:08If the tension of too much on the plate has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
3:27There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
3:45Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
3:59Let your body keep settling.
4:08Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
4:21Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
4:31Nothing changes for a moment.
4:40Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
4:55Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
5:07Let this one be unhurried.
5:16Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
5:29Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
5:41Remain here for a few more breaths.
5:51Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
6:02Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
6:15A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
6:26If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
6:40Let the quiet do its work.
6:50Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
7:04A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
7:15Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
7:27Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
7:39A few seconds more.
7:48If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
8:01Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
8:12Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
8:28If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
8:41I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
8:53With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
9:08If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
9:21Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
9:32Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
9:47If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
9:58No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
10:09You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
10:24Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
10:38Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
10:51Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
11:03Feel the weight of the load you are carrying somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
11:20There is no correct amount of the tension of too much on the plate to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
11:39Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
11:53You do not have to like the low-grade alarm of being stretched thin to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
12:11You are allowed to be unimpressed by the load you are carrying. Indifference is a legitimate response.
12:26Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
12:39If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
12:52Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
13:03Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
13:16I'll step back. You stay here.
13:26We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
13:41Stay with it.
13:49Let the quiet end on its own rather than cutting it off.
14:02Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
14:17Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Stress is a load that does not come off. Muscle tension accumulates in the shoulders, jaw and gut, and the body stops returning to baseline between demands. Short practices work on the physical part of the load. They do not remove the demands, but they stop the body storing all of them.

Where and when should I do this one?

Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins. The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

What actually happens during the 15 minutes?

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.

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