Falling asleep: 5-minute grounding meditation, after bad news

About this practice

For the times after bad news when falling asleep takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, grounding. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: falling asleep

Falling asleep is a passive process. The harder you aim at it, the further it moves, because the effort itself is arousal.

It tends to show up as:

• Watching the clock
• Getting frustrated at being awake
• Sleep only arriving after giving up

Attention on something boring and continuous is the oldest trick there is. That is all a sleep story is doing.

Doing this after bad news

• Do not make any decisions during it
• Let it be simple — you do not need to process anything today
• Tell one person where you are, even briefly

The first hours after bad news are not for planning. Deliberately doing nothing useful is the right move.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth.
2. 0:13You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
3. 0:26We're going to move through the body in order, roughly from top to bottom.
4. 0:40Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
5. 0:53Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
6. 1:04Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
7. 1:18Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
8. 1:32Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
9. 1:44Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
10. 1:57Nothing changes for a moment.
11. 2:06Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
12. 2:18We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
13. 2:32Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
14. 2:43If the slow drift toward sleep is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
15. 3:00Picture the thoughts that keep the light on as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
16. 3:19Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
17. 3:31Notice where the surrender at the end of the day lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
18. 3:50Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
19. 4:04Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
20. 4:15We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
21. 4:25Notice your feet on the floor. That's where you start from.
22. 4:37No 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.