Grounding meditation for concentration (12 min), before bed

About this practice

For the times before bed when concentration takes up more room than you would like — 12 minutes, grounding. A guided session of about 12 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: concentration

Concentration fails for two reasons: the task is uninteresting, or the body is too activated to hold anything steady. The second one is fixable in minutes.

It tends to show up as:

• Attention sliding off within seconds
• Jumping between tabs
• Feeling physically unable to sit still

Lowering arousal raises the ceiling of what attention can hold. Practice first, then the task.

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 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. 0:00Feel your ribs move. That is all the machinery you need to pay attention to right now.
2. 0:15There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:26Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
4. 0:44Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:57Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
6. 1:08Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
7. 1:21Let the whole of your right foot be heavy.
8. 1:32Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
9. 1:45Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
10. 1:56Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
11. 2:08Imagine softening the edges of the attention that keeps sliding off. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
12. 2:26Notice the space around the urge to check something else. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
13. 2:45Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
14. 2:58Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
15. 3:09We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
16. 3:23Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
17. 3:35If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
18. 3:47Small efforts are the whole method.
19. 3:57A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
20. 4:08Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
21. 4:19You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
22. 4:32Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
23. 4:43Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
24. 4:55Nothing here needs to be efficient.
25. 5:05I'll step back. You stay here.
26. 5:15If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
27. 5:30If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
28. 5:43Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
29. 5:55Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
30. 6:08Keep following the air.
31. 6:17Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
32. 6:31Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
33. 6:42Let the quiet do its work.
34. 6:52Feel the tops of your thighs.
35. 7:02Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
36. 7:16Let it be this simple.
37. 7:25Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
38. 7:37Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
39. 7:50Let your body keep settling.
40. 7:59Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
41. 8:12If you catch yourself fighting the difficulty of staying with one thing, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
42. 8:31I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
43. 8:43Each time your mind hands you the attention that keeps sliding off, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
44. 9:03Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
45. 9:16You do not have to win against the urge to check something else. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
46. 9:34Notice where the difficulty of staying with one thing lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
47. 9:53Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
48. 10:09Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
49. 10:21If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
50. 10:34A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
51. 10:45We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
52. 10:55Stay with it.
53. 11:03Stand up when you're ready. The list hasn't grown while you were here.
54. 11:16If you drifted off, that was rest, and rest counts.

Questions people ask

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