20-minute body scan meditation for insomnia, at the end of the workday

About this practice

A 20-minute body scan session for insomnia, at the end of the workday. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 20 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 after work

• Change something physical first — shoes off, coat off — so the transition registers
• Do it before picking up the evening tasks
• Aim to end it fully, not just stop

Without a marker, work follows you into the evening. The session is the marker.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions.
2. 0:13Visit each area with plain curiosity, not with a verdict. Sensation is information, not a problem.
3. 0:28There's a difference between relaxing and stopping. We're aiming for the second one, gently.
4. 0:42Everything that happens in the next few minutes is allowed to happen.
5. 0:55Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
6. 1:11Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
7. 1:27Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
8. 1:39Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
9. 1:53Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
10. 2:06Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
11. 2:18Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
12. 2:30Let the exhale carry a little of the frustration of not sleeping with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
13. 2:49Think of the wide-awake mind at 2am as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
14. 3:07Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
15. 3:19You do not have to solve the counting of hours until morning in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
16. 3:39When the frustration of not sleeping presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
17. 3:58Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
18. 4:12Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
19. 4:24Move at the speed of your attention, not the speed of a checklist. There is no schedule to keep.
20. 4:40Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
21. 4:51If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
22. 5:04Start at the crown of the head and move down slowly. Do not skip to the parts that hurt.
23. 5:20I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
24. 5:33If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
25. 5:47If a region feels numb, that is a finding too. Note it and move on.
26. 6:01Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
27. 6:12If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
28. 6:26We will travel down through the body, one region at a time, and leave each one softer than we found it.
29. 6:43I'll step back. You stay here.
30. 6:53If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
31. 7:06No need to open your eyes yet.
32. 7:16Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
33. 7:27Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
34. 7:39No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
35. 7:50If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
36. 8:03Just the breath, still.
37. 8:12Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
38. 8:25Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
39. 8:36Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
40. 8:48Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
41. 9:02Stay with it.
42. 9:10Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
43. 9:21Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
44. 9:33Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
45. 9:44Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
46. 9:55A few seconds more.
47. 10:04Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
48. 10:16A short silence. Let it be empty.
49. 10:26Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
50. 10:39Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
51. 10:52Let this one be unhurried.
52. 11:01If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
53. 11:14Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
54. 11:26Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
55. 11:38Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
56. 11:50Remain here for a few more breaths.
57. 12:00Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
58. 12:14A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
59. 12:25Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
60. 12:38Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
61. 12:51Nothing changes for a moment.
62. 13:00Notice your toes, starting with the big one on the left.
63. 13:12Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
64. 13:25Let the quiet do its work.
65. 13:35Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
66. 13:47Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
67. 14:01Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
68. 14:11Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
69. 14:23Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
70. 14:37Let it be this simple.
71. 14:46Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
72. 14:56When the wide-awake mind at 2am arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
73. 15:15Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
74. 15:26Nothing about the counting of hours until morning has to be explained or justified in this room.
75. 15:41Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
76. 15:54Imagine the frustration of not sleeping as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
77. 16:12Give the wide-awake mind at 2am a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
78. 16:30Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
79. 16:42Let the counting of hours until morning be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
80. 17:02You are allowed to be unimpressed by the frustration of not sleeping. Indifference is a legitimate response.
81. 17:17Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
82. 17:30If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
83. 17:45If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
84. 17:59Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
85. 18:12Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
86. 18:22Your only job is to notice what is there, region by region, without fixing anything.
87. 18:36Let the pause stretch out.
88. 18:45Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.
89. 18:57Let your shoulders come back up to their usual place, if they want to.
90. 19:11Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

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