Noting for waking up: 5 minutes, beside your desk

About this practice

For the times beside your desk when waking up takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, noting. A guided session of about 5 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 your desk

• Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline
• You can do this with your eyes open if the office makes closing them awkward
• Unclench the jaw and drop the shoulders first, before anything else

Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

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 eyes soften. Not closed, just less busy.
2. 0:11A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
3. 0:26We'll be quiet for a bit longer than usual. Stay with whatever shows up.
4. 0:40Bring your attention to where your body meets the surface underneath you.
5. 0:53Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
6. 1:06Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
7. 1:19Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
8. 1:30Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
9. 1:43Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
10. 1:55Stay here a little longer.
11. 2:04Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
12. 2:15If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
13. 2:30Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
14. 2:42If the morning body that needs a moment is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
15. 3:00If the slow start of the day shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
16. 3:21Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
17. 3:34Notice where the fog of just-woken lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
18. 3:52Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
19. 4:05Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
20. 4:15You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
21. 4:30Start to notice the edges of your body again, and the surface you're on.

Questions people ask

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