Meditation for waking up: 20-minute letting go session, when you wake at 3am

About this practice

20 minutes to meet waking up with less of a fight. A letting go practice, when you wake at 3am. A guided session of about 20 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: waking up

On waking, the brain passes through a slow transition rather than switching on. Rushing it leaves you foggy for the first hour.

It tends to show up as:

• Needing a long time to feel awake
• Foggy, irritable mornings
• The day starting before you are ready

Giving the body a few unhurried minutes at the start changes the tone of everything that follows.

Doing this at 3am

• Do not check the time and do not turn on a light
• Stay lying down if you can — sitting up makes it harder to return to sleep
• Do not try to solve anything that arrives at this hour

Problems at 3am feel enormous because of chemistry, not because they are actually bigger. Defer them.

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 your legs are crossed, uncross them. Small changes count.
2. 0:12Nothing here needs to be efficient.
3. 0:22This is not a performance. Nobody is listening to how well you're doing it.
4. 0:36We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
5. 0:50If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
6. 1:04Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7. 1:19Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
8. 1:31Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
9. 1:45Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
10. 1:56Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
11. 2:09Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
12. 2:21Let the exhale carry a little of the slow start of the day with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
13. 2:41You do not have to solve the fog of just-woken in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
14. 3:00Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
15. 3:13If you catch yourself fighting the morning body that needs a moment, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
16. 3:32You have been carrying the slow start of the day for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
17. 3:53Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
18. 4:07If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
19. 4:21We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
20. 4:31Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
21. 4:42If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
22. 4:56Let this be easy, if easy is available.
23. 5:07Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
24. 5:19Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
25. 5:32We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
26. 5:46Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
27. 5:58If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
28. 6:10There's no need to try harder than this.
29. 6:21Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
30. 6:32Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
31. 6:43Small efforts are the whole method.
32. 6:53A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
33. 7:04Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
34. 7:16If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
35. 7:29Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
36. 7:40If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
37. 7:55Nothing changes for a moment.
38. 8:04Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
39. 8:15Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
40. 8:26I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
41. 8:39If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
42. 8:53Take the next breath slowly.
43. 9:02Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
44. 9:15Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
45. 9:27I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
46. 9:39Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
47. 9:51No need to open your eyes yet.
48. 10:01Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
49. 10:14Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
50. 10:25Feel your calves, front and back.
51. 10:35Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
52. 10:49Keep following the air.
53. 10:58If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
54. 11:11Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
55. 11:21Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
56. 11:35Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
57. 11:48Let it be this simple.
58. 11:57Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
59. 12:10Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
60. 12:22No rush to move on.
61. 12:31Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
62. 12:44Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
63. 12:57Stay with it.
64. 13:05Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
65. 13:17Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
66. 13:31Let the pause stretch out.
67. 13:40Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
68. 13:51Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
69. 14:04A few seconds more.
70. 14:13Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
71. 14:25Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
72. 14:39Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
73. 14:49Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
74. 15:01Give the fog of just-woken a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
75. 15:18No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
76. 15:29Imagine softening the edges of the morning body that needs a moment. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
77. 15:48Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
78. 16:00Let the slow start of the day be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
79. 16:20Whatever the fog of just-woken is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
80. 16:35Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
81. 16:48If the morning body that needs a moment starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
82. 17:06Picture the slow start of the day as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
83. 17:25Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
84. 17:36If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
85. 17:49Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
86. 18:01Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
87. 18:13I'll step back. You stay here.
88. 18:23You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
89. 18:36Let this one be unhurried.
90. 18:45Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.
91. 18:57Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.
92. 19:11Remain here for a few more breaths.

Questions people ask

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