Softening meditation for fatigue (7 min), after a long day

About this practice

7 minutes to meet fatigue with less of a fight. A softening practice, after a long day. A guided session of about 7 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: fatigue

Fatigue is deep tiredness of the kind that sleep does not fully clear, usually after a stretch of sustained demand.

It tends to show up as:

• Tired behind the eyes all day
• Heavy limbs
• Rest that does not refresh

Here the practice should be restful rather than stimulating. Quiet and unambitious is the right dose.

Doing this after a long day

• Something physical first — shoes off, hands washed, water drunk
• Do not review the day during it
• Keep it short rather than thorough

Replaying the day in the practice just carries the day further into the evening.

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. 0:00If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up.
2. 0:15Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
3. 0:28Let your body feel heavier than it did a minute ago. Let the chair or the floor take it.
4. 0:44If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
5. 0:58Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
6. 1:12Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
7. 1:26Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
8. 1:38Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
9. 1:49Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
10. 2:01You are allowed to be unimpressed by the end of the reserves. Indifference is a legitimate response.
11. 2:16You do not have to win against the bone-deep tiredness. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
12. 2:33Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
13. 2:45Let your body keep settling.
14. 2:54Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
15. 3:05If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
16. 3:17I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
17. 3:29Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
18. 3:43Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
19. 3:55Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
20. 4:09Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
21. 4:20Each time your mind hands you the heaviness behind your eyes, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
22. 4:39the end of the reserves may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
23. 4:57Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
24. 5:11Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
25. 5:25If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
26. 5:39Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
27. 5:51With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
28. 6:06Let your breathing go back to whatever it does when nobody is watching.
29. 6:19Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
30. 6:32Just the breath, still.

Questions people ask

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