7-minute guided self-compassion practice for sleep — during a break

About this practice

A 7-minute self-compassion session for sleep, during a break. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 7 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 on a break

• Leave the room if you can
• Do not start anything else in the same gap
• Set a timer so the break has an end

A break spent half-engaged with a screen is not much of a break. Guard the whole five minutes.

How self-compassion works

Self-compassion practice changes the tone of the inner voice rather than the content of the thoughts. It uses the same warmth and steadiness you would offer a friend, applied without requiring you to have earned it.

• Use the words you would actually say to someone you love
• Ask what you need, not what you deserve
• A hand on the chest or belly gives warmth and pressure a place to land

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point.
2. 0:15You are allowed to have a hard time without earning it first.
3. 0:28Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
4. 0:44We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
5. 0:58Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
6. 1:12Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
7. 1:25Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
8. 1:38Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
9. 1:50Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
10. 2:02If the heaviness your body already knows has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
11. 2:20Nothing about the day folding itself up has to be explained or justified in this room.
12. 2:35Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
13. 2:47Let this one be unhurried.
14. 2:56Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
15. 3:09If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
16. 3:23I'll step back. You stay here.
17. 3:33Put a hand where the feeling is strongest. Warmth and pressure are the oldest kind of reassurance.
18. 3:48Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
19. 4:00Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
20. 4:12A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
21. 4:23If the quiet your mind keeps postponing is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
22. 4:41Notice where the heaviness your body already knows lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
23. 5:00Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
24. 5:14Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
25. 5:26If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
26. 5:39Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
27. 5:51Notice the tone you are using on yourself. If it would wound a friend, it is not the truth.
28. 6:07Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
29. 6:21When you're ready, look around properly.
30. 6:31A few seconds more.

Questions people ask

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