15-minute breathing meditation for insomnia, at night

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for insomnia. A breathing session you can do at night. A guided session of about 15 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 at night

• Skip the clock — knowing the time rarely helps at night
• Keep the room dark, and use headphones rather than a speaker
• Expect to be awake for a while without treating that as a problem

Any practice at night works better with the display off. Looking at a screen resets the whole thing.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Check your hands. Are they doing anything? Let them stop.
2. 0:12There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:23Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
4. 0:37Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
5. 0:53Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
6. 1:07Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
7. 1:21Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
8. 1:35Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
9. 1:48Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
10. 1:58Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
11. 2:11Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
12. 2:23When the counting of hours until morning arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
13. 2:42If the frustration of not sleeping starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
14. 2:59Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
15. 3:13If the wide-awake mind at 2am is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
16. 3:30Notice where the counting of hours until morning lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
17. 3:49Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
18. 4:01Just the breath, still.
19. 4:10Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
20. 4:24Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
21. 4:35Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
22. 4:45Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
23. 4:59Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
24. 5:11Remain here for a few more breaths.
25. 5:21Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
26. 5:35Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
27. 5:47Let it be this simple.
28. 5:56Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
29. 6:09Feel your calves, front and back.
30. 6:19No need to open your eyes yet.
31. 6:29Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
32. 6:43Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
33. 6:57Take the next breath slowly.
34. 7:06Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
35. 7:18Let this be easy, if easy is available.
36. 7:29Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
37. 7:41I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
38. 7:53We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
39. 8:03Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
40. 8:15I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
41. 8:27We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
42. 8:41Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
43. 8:52A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
44. 9:03You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
45. 9:16If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
46. 9:29Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
47. 9:41Nothing here needs to be efficient.
48. 9:51If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
49. 10:05A short silence. Let it be empty.
50. 10:15If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
51. 10:28Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
52. 10:40Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
53. 10:56I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
54. 11:09There is no correct amount of the frustration of not sleeping to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
55. 11:27Let the exhale carry a little of the wide-awake mind at 2am with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
56. 11:46Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
57. 11:57Imagine the counting of hours until morning as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
58. 12:16You are allowed to be unimpressed by the frustration of not sleeping. Indifference is a legitimate response.
59. 12:31Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
60. 12:47Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
61. 12:58Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
62. 13:12If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
63. 13:26A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
64. 13:37Small efforts are the whole method.
65. 13:47Stay with it.
66. 13:55When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
67. 14:08Roll your neck once, slowly, in whichever direction feels good.
68. 14:20No rush to move on.

Questions people ask

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