Self-compassion for tired eyes: 12 minutes, on a rest day

About this practice

12 minutes to meet tired eyes with less of a fight. A self-compassion practice, on a rest day. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tired eyes

Screens reduce blink rate sharply, and the muscles that focus at close range stay contracted. The result is strain, ache and blur by the end of the day.

It tends to show up as:

• Aching, gritty eyes after screen time
• Blurring at the end of the day
• Headaches above the eyes

Closing the eyes is the only real rest they get. A few minutes without visual input is the specific thing your eyes are short of.

Doing this on a rest day

• Do it without a reason or a target
• Later in the day, unhurried, in good light
• Let it be longer than usual if you want

Rest that has to be justified is not really rest. This one is allowed to be pointless.

How self-compassion works

Self-compassion practice changes the tone of the inner voice rather than the content of the thoughts. It uses the same warmth and steadiness you would offer a friend, applied without requiring you to have earned it.

• Use the words you would actually say to someone you love
• Ask what you need, not what you deserve
• A hand on the chest or belly gives warmth and pressure a place to land

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00There is nothing to get right here. Nothing is being scored.
2. 0:12Notice the tone you are using on yourself. If it would wound a friend, it is not the truth.
3. 0:28Bring your attention to where your body meets the surface underneath you.
4. 0:41Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
5. 0:59Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
6. 1:10Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
7. 1:21Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
8. 1:33Notice your breathing, without changing it.
9. 1:43Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
10. 1:56Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
11. 2:08Each time your mind hands you the ache of staring too long, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
12. 2:28If you catch yourself fighting the strained eyes after screens, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
13. 2:46Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
14. 3:00Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
15. 3:12You are allowed to have a hard time without earning it first.
16. 3:25Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
17. 3:36Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
18. 3:47Whatever you are about to say to yourself, imagine saying it to someone you love. Use those words.
19. 4:03Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
20. 4:15If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
21. 4:28Put a hand where the feeling is strongest. Warmth and pressure are the oldest kind of reassurance.
22. 4:43Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
23. 4:55If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
24. 5:08Say it once, plainly: this is hard, and I am allowed to find it hard.
25. 5:22Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
26. 5:33If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
27. 5:48Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
28. 6:01Let the pause stretch out.
29. 6:10Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
30. 6:23Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
31. 6:34Let the quiet do its work.
32. 6:44Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
33. 6:56Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
34. 7:07Just the breath, still.
35. 7:16Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
36. 7:27Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
37. 7:42Keep following the air.
38. 7:51Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
39. 8:03Let the heavy lids of a screen-lit day be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
40. 8:24Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
41. 8:36You are allowed to be unimpressed by the ache of staring too long. Indifference is a legitimate response.
42. 8:52Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
43. 9:05Notice where the strained eyes after screens lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
44. 9:23Give the heavy lids of a screen-lit day a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
45. 9:42Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
46. 9:56If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
47. 10:08If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
48. 10:21I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
49. 10:33The question is not what you deserve. It is what you need, right now, in this moment.
50. 10:48Let it be this simple.
51. 10:57Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.
52. 11:09Come back to your body first, and the rest of the day second.
53. 11:22No need to open your eyes yet.

Questions people ask

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