Grounding meditation for insomnia (20 min), on the way in

About this practice

20 minutes to meet insomnia with less of a fight. A grounding practice, on the way in. A guided session of about 20 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 on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

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. 0:00If your legs are crossed, uncross them. Small changes count.
2. 0:12The floor is holding you right now. You do not have to hold yourself up.
3. 0:26You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
4. 0:38Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
5. 0:54Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
6. 1:08Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
7. 1:24Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
8. 1:37Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
9. 1:50Feel your calves, front and back.
10. 2:00Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
11. 2:12Notice your breathing, without changing it.
12. 2:22Give the counting of hours until morning a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
13. 2:40Notice how the frustration of not sleeping changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
14. 2:57Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
15. 3:11You are allowed to be unimpressed by the wide-awake mind at 2am. Indifference is a legitimate response.
16. 3:26When the counting of hours until morning arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
17. 3:45Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
18. 3:59If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
19. 4:14If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
20. 4:29Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
21. 4:41If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
22. 4:54Name what you can see, hear and touch. Counting senses is not a distraction; it is the practice.
23. 5:10A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
24. 5:21Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
25. 5:34Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
26. 5:48Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
27. 5:59If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
28. 6:12Press down slightly and feel the push back. Your body already knows where it is.
29. 6:26I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
30. 6:38Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
31. 6:49Stay here a little longer.
32. 6:58Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
33. 7:12Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
34. 7:26No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
35. 7:37If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
36. 7:51Let it be this simple.
37. 8:00Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
38. 8:11Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
39. 8:25A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
40. 8:36Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
41. 8:49Nothing changes for a moment.
42. 8:58Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
43. 9:14Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
44. 9:27Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
45. 9:37If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
46. 9:50Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
47. 10:03Let the quiet do its work.
48. 10:13Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
49. 10:25A short silence. Let it be empty.
50. 10:35Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
51. 10:47Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
52. 11:00Just the breath, still.
53. 11:09Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
54. 11:22Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
55. 11:33Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
56. 11:45Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
57. 12:00Keep following the air.
58. 12:09Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
59. 12:21Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
60. 12:32Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
61. 12:43Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
62. 12:55Let your body keep settling.
63. 13:04Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
64. 13:14Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
65. 13:27Take the next breath slowly.
66. 13:36Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
67. 13:49Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
68. 14:00Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
69. 14:10Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
70. 14:21Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
71. 14:34Let the pause stretch out.
72. 14:43Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
73. 14:54Think of the frustration of not sleeping as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
74. 15:12Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
75. 15:24There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
76. 15:42Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
77. 15:55You do not have to like the counting of hours until morning to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
78. 16:12Let the exhale carry a little of the frustration of not sleeping with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
79. 16:31Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
80. 16:44If the wide-awake mind at 2am is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
81. 17:01This is not the last time the counting of hours until morning will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
82. 17:20Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
83. 17:35If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
84. 17:48You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
85. 18:00If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
86. 18:13Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
87. 18:25Come back to the solid things: weight, temperature, surface. They are always available.
88. 18:38A few seconds more.
89. 18:47Let your shoulders come back up to their usual place, if they want to.
90. 19:01Wiggle your fingers and toes, gently, like you're testing that they still work.

Questions people ask

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