5-minute guided breathing practice for sleep — when it all piles up

About this practice

A 5-minute breathing session for sleep, when it all piles up. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: sleep

Sleep arrives on a downslope, not on command. Arousal has to fall for some minutes before the switch flips, and trying harder keeps it up.

It tends to show up as:

• Getting a second wind at bedtime
• Mind starting up as soon as the light goes off
• Sleep arriving much later than you intended

The practice is to stop steering. Following a slow voice occupies the part of the mind that would otherwise be trying.

Doing this when you are overwhelmed

• Do not decide priorities during it
• Pick the shortest session available here
• When you finish, write down the first physical action on paper

The pile looks less like a pile once the alarm stops ringing. Sort it after, not during.

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. 0:00Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second.
2. 0:13Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
3. 0:27If your mind is loud, that's information, not failure.
4. 0:38Feel the small movements your body makes to keep you upright. They're happening without you.
5. 0:52Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
6. 1:03Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
7. 1:17Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
8. 1:28Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
9. 1:39Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
10. 1:51Let the quiet do its work.
11. 2:01Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
12. 2:12Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
13. 2:28Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
14. 2:41Notice the space around the quiet your mind keeps postponing. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
15. 3:00Notice how the heaviness your body already knows changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
16. 3:17Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
17. 3:31Feel the weight of the day folding itself up somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
18. 3:48If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
19. 4:01I'll step back. You stay here.
20. 4:11Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
21. 4:25Let your shoulders come back up to their usual place, if they want to.
22. 4:39Stay here a little longer.

Questions people ask

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