Meditation for worry: 5-minute letting go session, at midday

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 5 minutes of letting go for worry, at midday. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: worry

Worry is rehearsal for a future that has not arrived. The body responds to the imagined event as if it were happening, so you pay the cost twice.

It tends to show up as:

• What-ifs lined up in a queue
• A knot low in the stomach
• Rehearsing bad outcomes before bed

You do not have to resolve the worry. Noticing it as a mental event, rather than an accurate forecast, loosens its grip.

Doing this at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

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. 0:00There is nothing to get right here. Nothing is being scored.
2. 0:12There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:23We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
4. 0:37You can think about other things. When you notice, come back. That's the whole practice.
5. 0:51Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
6. 1:05Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
7. 1:18Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
8. 1:30Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
9. 1:43Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
10. 1:57Let this one be unhurried.
11. 2:06Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
12. 2:18You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
13. 2:31Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
14. 2:44Notice where the mind rehearsing bad endings lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
15. 3:02You do not have to win against the what-ifs lined up like worries. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
16. 3:20Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
17. 3:31Feel the weight of the knot of worry low in the stomach somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
18. 3:49Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
19. 4:02I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
20. 4:15Small efforts are the whole method.
21. 4:25Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
22. 4:38Keep 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.