Noting for exhaustion: 15 minutes, on a Sunday

About this practice

For the times on a Sunday when exhaustion takes up more room than you would like — 15 minutes, noting. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: exhaustion

Exhaustion is what is left after the reserves are gone. The body has stopped asking; it is now insisting.

It tends to show up as:

• Feeling hollow and drained
• Emotionally flat
• Physical heaviness all day

This is not the state to push in. The whole point here is to ask nothing and let the body be heavy.

Doing this at the weekend

• Do it without a schedule to justify it
• Later in the morning, in better light, usually works well
• Let the length be open-ended if the time allows

Recovery is not something you have to earn first, and treating it as a reward keeps it conditional.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find.
2. 0:11Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
3. 0:25Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
4. 0:41For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
5. 0:55Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
6. 1:08Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
7. 1:22Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
8. 1:36Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
9. 1:48Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
10. 2:01Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
11. 2:13Notice your breathing, without changing it.
12. 2:23If the drained feeling that rest has not touched shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
13. 2:45Let the exhale carry a little of the hollow tiredness with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
14. 3:04Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
15. 3:18Nothing about the body asking you to stop has to be explained or justified in this room.
16. 3:33Imagine softening the edges of the drained feeling that rest has not touched. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
17. 3:52Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
18. 4:04Let the quiet do its work.
19. 4:14Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
20. 4:27Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
21. 4:39Let your body keep settling.
22. 4:48Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
23. 5:02Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
24. 5:14Let the pause stretch out.
25. 5:23Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
26. 5:35Feel the tops of your thighs.
27. 5:45Remain here for a few more breaths.
28. 5:55Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
29. 6:08Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
30. 6:20A short silence. Let it be empty.
31. 6:30If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
32. 6:44Stay here a little longer.
33. 6:53Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
34. 7:07Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
35. 7:19Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
36. 7:31Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
37. 7:46A few seconds more.
38. 7:55If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
39. 8:09Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
40. 8:19You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
41. 8:34If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
42. 8:47Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
43. 8:59If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
44. 9:14If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
45. 9:27Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
46. 9:39Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
47. 9:54Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
48. 10:07I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
49. 10:19A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
50. 10:34Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
51. 10:46Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
52. 10:57Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
53. 11:08There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
54. 11:26If the body asking you to stop starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
55. 11:43Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
56. 11:57When the drained feeling that rest has not touched arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
57. 12:17Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the hollow tiredness is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
58. 12:35Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
59. 12:48If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
60. 13:02Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
61. 13:14Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
62. 13:28Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
63. 13:39When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
64. 13:54Let this one be unhurried.
65. 14:03When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
66. 14:16Take your time opening your eyes. Nothing is waiting urgently.

Questions people ask

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