Let Go of 2025 (a Lloyd Dobler sorta guided meditation)

Ready to let go of 2025?

This special episode of The Tao of Lloyd is a short, unorthodox guided meditation for anyone crossing the finish line of the year feeling braced, exhausted, and still carrying more than they meant to.

Lloyd Dobler (yes, that Lloyd) all grown up—leads a calm, dry, anti-guru meditation built around four simple questions: what you’re still bracing for, what you’re carrying that you don’t need, what you can set down without forgetting, and what presence feels like without armor.

Expect monkey mind interruptions, dark humor, and permission to meditate badly. No incense. No enlightenment. Just a pause button before the year turns.

Less than 10 minutes.
Headphones optional.
Armor not required.

From the edge of empire and the center of self—this is The Tao of Lloyd.

Transcript

This is your guided meditation to let go of 2025.
[Bell chime, meditative music]

Close your eyes to start the journey within. 

Or don’t. 

I mean, I’m not your spiritual advisor but really friend, what have you got to lose? 

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 

This meditation? 

Less than 10 minutes.
Is this that a single step?
Well, you will never know unless you take it, so maybe just close your eyes and start your journey within.

Many of us are crossing the finish line of 2025 like a marathon runner on a bad knee being weighed down with a pile of unfinished to do lists, regret, and enough credit card debt to sink a small nation-state.

So…
you are ready to let go of 2025.
The year, the noise, not to mention project 2025, the blueprint to make America White Again under his fucking eye. All of it. LET IT GO!

We are going to ask four sacred questions.
Your only job is to repeat the questions silently in your head, like a little mantra. Your mind might wander- we call this monkey mind- but I’ll try to distract your monkey mind with my own monkey mind.

Unorthodox meditation protocol, you say?
I say hey— you’re listening to a mediation guided by a fictional character in an unauthorized sequel to the gen x class film Say Anything.
So pot. Kettle. Black my friend in the headphones. 

First, let's ask ourselves: 

What am I still bracing for?

What am I still bracing for?

Lloyd monkey mind #1: I’m bracing for the next mass shooting.
I’m bracing for the alert that says “multiple victims” before it says “suspect.”
I’m bracing for the ritual phrases —
thoughts and prayers,
isolated incident,
now is not the time —
lined up like folding chairs we keep setting out for the same funeral.

Lloyd repeats: What am I still bracing for?

[Pause — deep breath cue]

And now, let's ask ourselves:
What am I carrying that I no longer need? What am I carrying that I no longer need?

Lloyd monkey mind #2:
I learned to carry expectations that this podcast would go viral..

I say I’m doing this to stay sane
but then I check the podcast stats like I’m day trading my self-worth
on a platform run by a company
that also hosts ads for crypto scams and prepper food.

Right.
Okay.
That’s… a lot to be carrying into a meditation.

repeat:
What am I carrying that I no longer need?

[Pause — deep breath cue]
And now let's ask ourselves: What can I set down without forgetting?
What can I set down without forgetting?

Lloyd monkey mind #3:
LLOYD (quiet, then speeding up):
I don’t want to set down the urgency.
Because urgency feels like proof I still give a shit.

Because urgency is how I know I haven’t normalized this.
It’s how I stay sharp.
It’s how I remember what’s at stake.

And also—
if I’m being honest—
it’s how I feel useful
when I don’t actually know what to do next.

What can I set down without forgetting? 

Finally, let's ask ourselves:
What does presence feel like without armor?
What does presence feel like without armor?

Lloyd monkey mind #4:
If I’m not braced…
am I late?
Or am I finally here?

[Soft inhale / exhale cue]

And now just take a long, slow, deep breath in with me— and as you exhale, let it all go. Release all the questions, all the answers. 

You might be wondering: What good is meditation in the face of the Tsunami of this historical moment we are living through?

And for just one minute, just sit in silence and witness your breath flowing in, and flowing out, and let the universe answer that question for you. What good is meditation in the face of the Tsunami of this historical moment we are living through? I'll ring the chime and see you on the other side in one minute for some closing thoughts. 

(Bell chimes; 1 full minute goes by; bell chimes)

Open your eyes and see the world anew. 

Now take your answer and turn it into an intention. 
Take that intention and lob it like a Molotov cocktail through the Overton window because you are unstoppable, and another world is possible. 

From the edge of empire and the center of self—this is The Tao of Lloyd.