Gratitude for insomnia: 12 minutes, before bed

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for insomnia. A gratitude session you can do before bed. A guided session of about 12 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 before bed

• Do it in bed or somewhere you can move straight to bed after
• Lower the light, and do not check anything afterwards
• If you fall asleep before the end, it worked

Falling asleep mid-session is a success, not a failure to complete it.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Unclench your jaw. You were probably holding it without noticing.
2. 0:12If nothing comes, notice that something did not go wrong. That also counts.
3. 0:25We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:39We'll start broad and narrow down. Nothing sudden is coming.
5. 0:51Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
6. 1:02Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
7. 1:15Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
8. 1:27Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
9. 1:38Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
10. 1:49Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
11. 2:03You have been carrying the counting of hours until morning for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
12. 2:24Imagine softening the edges of the frustration of not sleeping. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
13. 2:42Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
14. 2:54You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
15. 3:06There is no need to feel grateful. Just look, and see what is actually there.
16. 3:20Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
17. 3:31If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
18. 3:46We are not forcing positivity. We are just noticing what went right, however small.
19. 4:00Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
20. 4:10If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
21. 4:23Pick one ordinary thing from today — a warm drink, a dry walk, a message — and let it count.
22. 4:40A short silence. Let it be empty.
23. 4:50Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
24. 5:03Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
25. 5:16I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
26. 5:28If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
27. 5:42Take the next breath slowly.
28. 5:51Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
29. 6:02Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
30. 6:15Let the quiet do its work.
31. 6:25Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
32. 6:37Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
33. 6:52Let your body keep settling.
34. 7:01Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
35. 7:14Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
36. 7:26Stay with it.
37. 7:34Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
38. 7:44Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
39. 7:56Let it be this simple.
40. 8:05Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
41. 8:15Notice where the wide-awake mind at 2am lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
42. 8:33A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
43. 8:44If the counting of hours until morning starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
44. 9:01Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
45. 9:12Feel the weight of the frustration of not sleeping somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
46. 9:29You do not have to like the wide-awake mind at 2am to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
47. 9:46Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
48. 9:59If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
49. 10:10Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
50. 10:21A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
51. 10:32Stay with it for two breaths. Gratitude deepens by staying, not by listing.
52. 10:45No need to open your eyes yet.
53. 10:55Let your eyes open when they're ready, not when the words end.
54. 11:08Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
55. 11:22A 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.