Noting for waking up: 12 minutes, on a Saturday morning

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 12 minutes of noting for waking up, on a Saturday morning. A guided session of about 12 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 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. 0:00Let your next exhale be a sigh, if a sigh is what's waiting there.
2. 0:14You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
3. 0:29Bring your attention to where your body meets the surface underneath you.
4. 0:42We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
5. 0:56Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
6. 1:07Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
7. 1:19Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
8. 1:30Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
9. 1:42Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
10. 1:53Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
11. 2:05When the morning body that needs a moment arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
12. 2:25You are allowed to be unimpressed by the slow start of the day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
13. 2:41Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
14. 2:54Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
15. 3:05If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
16. 3:20A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
17. 3:31Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
18. 3:43Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
19. 3:58Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
20. 4:08Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
21. 4:20A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
22. 4:35Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
23. 4:47If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
24. 5:01When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
25. 5:16I'll step back. You stay here.
26. 5:26If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
27. 5:39Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
28. 5:50Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
29. 6:01No need to open your eyes yet.
30. 6:11Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
31. 6:24Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
32. 6:38Remain here for a few more breaths.
33. 6:48Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
34. 7:00Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
35. 7:14Nothing changes for a moment.
36. 7:23Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
37. 7:36Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
38. 7:50Let the pause stretch out.
39. 7:59Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
40. 8:11the fog of just-woken may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
41. 8:28No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
42. 8:39Picture the morning body that needs a moment as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
43. 8:58Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
44. 9:12Notice how the slow start of the day changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
45. 9:29Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the fog of just-woken is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
46. 9:48Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
47. 10:00If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
48. 10:11If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
49. 10:24I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
50. 10:36Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
51. 10:50Keep following the air.
52. 10:59Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.
53. 11:14Take one more breath at your own pace, then let your attention come back to the room.

Questions people ask

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