Guide · Confidence
Meditation to stop caring what others think
You do not stop caring what others think by trying harder not to care. You set the opinion down. Notice whose you have been carrying. Let their thoughts be theirs, for a moment. Someone's opinion can matter to you without deciding for you. The eleven-minute practice below is that, said slowly, with room to feel your feet while you say it.
The weight you did not notice picking up
Caring what people think is not a flaw. It is how we get along. The trouble starts when a particular opinion gets carried around all day, deciding things on your behalf: what you say, what you wear, whether you send the message. You did not agree to carry it. You picked it up without noticing.
So the first move is to notice. Whose opinion is it? Say the name to yourself. That alone puts a little distance between you and it.
What helps, in order
- Feel where you are supported. The chair, the floor, the bed. Notice your breathing without changing it.
- Name whose opinion you are carrying. One person, usually. Let the name come.
- Let it be theirs. You do not have to change their mind to be yourself. Their thoughts can be theirs for a moment. Feel your feet and the place beneath you while you let that land.
- Ask what would be true and kind for you to say. Not what would please them. Not what would win. True, and kind.
- Let yourself be unfinished. We are all figuring things out as we go. You do not have to do this perfectly.
An eleven-minute practice
Guided practice · 11:25
Let Them Think What They Think A little room to be yourself without carrying every opinion. Their thoughts can be theirs for a moment. Press playIt helps to have the person in mind before you press play. Not to argue with them, only to notice the weight. The practice ends with "be gentle with yourself today," and that is the point: you can be kind to someone else and honest with yourself in the same breath.
When the opinion is attached to a request
If the thing you cannot say is no, Before You Say Yes is eight minutes on the pause between the request and the answer. And for the steadiness under all of it, The Empowerment Practice.
Questions people ask
How do I stop caring about what other people think of me?
Not by caring less in general, which rarely works. By noticing whose opinion you are carrying right now and letting it be theirs for a moment. Their opinion can matter without deciding for you. The practice on this page rehearses that in eleven minutes.
Why do I care so much about what others think?
Because it is how people get along, and because the mind treats a disapproving opinion as a threat. The body carries it as tension. Finding the opinion, naming its owner and feeling your feet tends to put it back at its real size.
Is this the same as "let them"?
It is close. The practice is called Let Them Think What They Think. The emphasis here is on the second half: once their thoughts are theirs, what is true and kind for you to say?
More to listen to
- How to say no without feeling guilty, for the request behind the opinion.
- How to calm down after an argument, when it has already turned into one.
- All guides, and the listening library: fifteen short practices, each built around a real moment.
Written by Josh Sundby, who has taught meditation for more than twenty-five years and trained as a hypnotherapist at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute. Published October 20, 2026. These practices are for rest and attention, not a substitute for care from a clinician.