Meditation for tension headaches: 7-minute letting go session, in the hour before an interview

About this practice

7 minutes to meet tension headaches with less of a fight. A letting go practice, in the hour before an interview. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tension headaches

Tension headaches follow a band of tightness across the forehead and around the skull, usually the product of long staring, jaw clenching and neck position.

It tends to show up as:

• A band of pressure across the forehead
• Pressure behind the eyes
• Ache worsening through the day

Softening the jaw, eyes and neck interrupts the pattern early. Once a tension headache settles in it is harder to shift.

Doing this before an interview

• Do it where you will not be interrupted, even if that is a stairwell
• Have the first sentence of your answer ready afterwards
• Keep it short — there is no time for a long session

Nerves before an interview are normal and not something to eliminate. You need access to what you know, nothing more.

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. 0:00Then find the nearest sound. It's probably your own breathing.
2. 0:12Small efforts are the whole method.
3. 0:22Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
4. 0:40We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
5. 0:54Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
6. 1:08Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
7. 1:20Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
8. 1:32Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
9. 1:46Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
10. 1:58Imagine the band around the forehead as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
11. 2:16Notice where the pressure building behind the eyes lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
12. 2:35Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
13. 2:48No rush to move on.
14. 2:57Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
15. 3:12Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
16. 3:25Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
17. 3:36Nothing here needs to be efficient.
18. 3:46Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
19. 3:58Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
20. 4:11Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
21. 4:23If the ache from a long staring day starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
22. 4:41Let the band around the forehead be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
23. 5:01Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
24. 5:16If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
25. 5:29If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
26. 5:42Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
27. 5:53We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
28. 6:03Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
29. 6:18If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
30. 6:32Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

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