Morning energy: 10-minute gratitude meditation, on the morning of an interview

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for morning energy. A gratitude session you can do on the morning of an interview. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: morning energy

Morning energy depends on how you come out of sleep and when light hits your eyes, more than on the number of hours.

It tends to show up as:

• Heavy eyelids at the start
• Struggling out of bed
• Needing to hit snooze repeatedly

Movement and breathing raise alertness without caffeine, and the effect holds better through the early hours.

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 gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your belly be soft. Not sucked in. Just soft.
2. 0:12We are not forcing positivity. We are just noticing what went right, however small.
3. 0:26If your mind is loud, that's information, not failure.
4. 0:37Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
5. 0:55Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
6. 1:09Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
7. 1:22Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
8. 1:35Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
9. 1:48Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
10. 2:01Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
11. 2:12Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the heavy eyelids at the start is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
12. 2:31You are allowed to be unimpressed by the day arriving before you are ready. Indifference is a legitimate response.
13. 2:47If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
14. 3:00There is no need to feel grateful. Just look, and see what is actually there.
15. 3:14Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
16. 3:25If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
17. 3:38Stay with it for two breaths. Gratitude deepens by staying, not by listing.
18. 3:51I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
19. 4:04Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
20. 4:16If nothing comes, notice that something did not go wrong. That also counts.
21. 4:29A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
22. 4:40If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
23. 4:52Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
24. 5:05Let the quiet do its work.
25. 5:15Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
26. 5:28Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
27. 5:39A few seconds more.
28. 5:48Feel the tops of your thighs.
29. 5:58Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
30. 6:11Let your body keep settling.
31. 6:20Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
32. 6:32Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
33. 6:44I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
34. 6:56Let the exhale carry a little of the wish to begin without the scramble with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
35. 7:16When the heavy eyelids at the start arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
36. 7:35Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
37. 7:47Each time your mind hands you the day arriving before you are ready, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
38. 8:07If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
39. 8:21Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
40. 8:33A short silence. Let it be empty.
41. 8:43Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
42. 8:56Let this one be unhurried.
43. 9:05Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.
44. 9:19Let your eyes open when they're ready, not when the words end.

Questions people ask

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