Softening for exhaustion: 7 minutes, on a train journey

About this practice

7 minutes to meet exhaustion with less of a fight. A softening practice, on a train journey. A guided session of about 7 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 on a train

• Pick a window seat if you can and let the view do part of the work
• Set an alarm for your stop
• Keep the bag on your lap rather than unfastening to find it later

The motion can make reading or screens uncomfortable, which is another reason audio works better here.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Put both feet flat on the floor and let them take some of the weight.
2. 0:14With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
3. 0:29We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
4. 0:43Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
5. 0:59Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
6. 1:15Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
7. 1:28Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
8. 1:39Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
9. 1:51Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
10. 2:05Let the exhale carry a little of the body asking you to stop with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
11. 2:25You have been carrying the drained feeling that rest has not touched for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
12. 2:47Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
13. 2:59A few seconds more.
14. 3:08Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
15. 3:22If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
16. 3:36Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
17. 3:47Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
18. 4:01Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
19. 4:13Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
20. 4:26I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
21. 4:38Imagine softening the edges of the hollow tiredness. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
22. 4:55If the body asking you to stop shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
23. 5:16Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
24. 5:29If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
25. 5:40Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
26. 5:52A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
27. 6:03We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
28. 6:17Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.
29. 6:29Let your jaw, shoulders and hands be loose as you finish.

Questions people ask

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