Breathing for insomnia: 15 minutes, after a bad day

About this practice

A 15-minute breathing session for insomnia, after a bad day. No app, no account — press start. 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 after a bad day

• Do not review the day during it — that is what tomorrow is for
• Something physical first, then this
• Keep it short and end it deliberately

A bad day does not need a verdict. Closing it without a post-mortem is allowed.

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. 0:00Let your shoulders drop about a centimetre. That is roughly where most of us keep the day.
2. 0:15Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
3. 0:31Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
4. 0:47There's a difference between relaxing and stopping. We're aiming for the second one, gently.
5. 1:01Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
6. 1:15Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
7. 1:28Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
8. 1:40Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
9. 1:52Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
10. 2:04Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
11. 2:18Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
12. 2:29If the counting of hours until morning starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
13. 2:46Nothing about the frustration of not sleeping has to be explained or justified in this room.
14. 3:01Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
15. 3:12There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
16. 3:30You do not have to win against the counting of hours until morning. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
17. 3:48Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
18. 4:00Keep following the air.
19. 4:09Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
20. 4:22Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
21. 4:34Take the next breath slowly.
22. 4:43Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
23. 4:54Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
24. 5:08No rush to move on.
25. 5:17Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
26. 5:30Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
27. 5:41Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
28. 5:51Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
29. 6:06Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
30. 6:18I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
31. 6:30If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
32. 6:44Let your body keep settling.
33. 6:53A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
34. 7:04Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
35. 7:16Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
36. 7:30Remain here for a few more breaths.
37. 7:40Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
38. 7:53Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
39. 8:04There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
40. 8:19If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
41. 8:32Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
42. 8:44If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
43. 9:00Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
44. 9:11Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
45. 9:21Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
46. 9:35Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
47. 9:47A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
48. 9:58Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
49. 10:14If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
50. 10:29Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
51. 10:45Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
52. 10:57Feel the weight of the frustration of not sleeping somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
53. 11:14Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the wide-awake mind at 2am is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
54. 11:33Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
55. 11:44Let the exhale carry a little of the counting of hours until morning with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
56. 12:04There is no correct amount of the frustration of not sleeping to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
57. 12:22Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
58. 12:35Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
59. 12:49If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
60. 13:02If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
61. 13:17Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
62. 13:28Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
63. 13:42Let the quiet do its work.
64. 13:52If you drifted off, that was rest, and rest counts.
65. 14:04Notice your feet on the floor. That's where you start from.
66. 14:16Stay with it.

Questions people ask

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