12-minute guided letting go practice for insomnia

About this practice

For the times on a meeting break when insomnia takes up more room than you would like — 12 minutes, letting go. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: insomnia

Insomnia is often maintained by the fear of not sleeping. Anticipating a bad night raises arousal at bedtime, which produces the bad night.

It tends to show up as:

Dreading bedtime
Hours awake with a busy mind
Sleeping worse as the week goes on

Removing the pressure to sleep is the active ingredient. This gives you something to do that is not trying.

Doing this between meetings

Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins
Write down the open thread from the last meeting first, then let it go
Two minutes done beats five minutes planned

The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

0:00Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth.
0:13With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
0:28We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
0:42Let the last hour go on its own. You can pick it up again afterwards.
0:56Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
1:09Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
1:23Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
1:36Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
1:48Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
1:59Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
2:11If you catch yourself fighting the frustration of not sleeping, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
2:29You do not have to win against the wide-awake mind at 2am. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
2:47Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
2:58Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
3:10Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3:25Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
3:37If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
3:51You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
4:06Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
4:17Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
4:29Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
4:45Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
4:56Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
5:10Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
5:26I'll step back. You stay here.
5:36If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
5:49Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
6:01Keep following the air.
6:10Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
6:21Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
6:34Just the breath, still.
6:43Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
6:55Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
7:08Let the pause stretch out.
7:17Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
7:31Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7:46Let your body keep settling.
7:55Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
8:09Notice the space around the counting of hours until morning. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
8:28Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
8:38Let the frustration of not sleeping be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
8:58Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
9:13Feel the weight of the wide-awake mind at 2am somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
9:30Whatever the counting of hours until morning is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
9:46Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
9:59If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
10:11Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
10:24No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
10:35We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
10:50Let this one be unhurried.
10:59Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
11:09Notice the room again: the sounds, the temperature, the light.
11:21Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

What does this session help with?

Insomnia is often maintained by the fear of not sleeping. Anticipating a bad night raises arousal at bedtime, which produces the bad night. Removing the pressure to sleep is the active ingredient. This gives you something to do that is not trying.

Where and when should I do this one?

Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins. The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

What actually happens during the 12 minutes?

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

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