Noting for irritability: 3 minutes, late at night

About this practice

For the times late at night when irritability takes up more room than you would like — 3 minutes, noting. A guided session of about 3 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: irritability

Irritability is usually a depleted state, not a personality trait. When reserves are low, ordinary friction feels like an attack.

It tends to show up as:

• Snapping over small things
• Wanting to be left alone
• Noise feeling physically louder

This is a low-reserve state, so anything effortful will make it worse. Short and gentle is the correct dose.

Doing this at night

• Skip the clock — knowing the time rarely helps at night
• Keep the room dark, and use headphones rather than a speaker
• Expect to be awake for a while without treating that as a problem

Any practice at night works better with the display off. Looking at a screen resets the whole thing.

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. 0:00Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point.
2. 0:15There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:26We'll start broad and narrow down. Nothing sudden is coming.
4. 0:38Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
5. 0:51Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
6. 1:04Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
7. 1:16Let the snap that comes from nowhere be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
8. 1:36Imagine softening the edges of the low grumble of being easily annoyed. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
9. 1:55Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
10. 2:08You are allowed to be unimpressed by the short fuse after a long day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
11. 2:24If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
12. 2:38We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
13. 2:52Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.

Questions people ask

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