Letting go for sleep: 10 minutes, on a plane

About this practice

A 10-minute letting go session for sleep, on a plane. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: sleep

Sleep arrives on a downslope, not on command. Arousal has to fall for some minutes before the switch flips, and trying harder keeps it up.

It tends to show up as:

• Getting a second wind at bedtime
• Mind starting up as soon as the light goes off
• Sleep arriving much later than you intended

The practice is to stop steering. Following a slow voice occupies the part of the mind that would otherwise be trying.

Doing this on a plane

• Use headphones, and keep the seatbelt on
• Bring a layer — being cold works against settling
• Skip alcohol; it makes the alertness worse

Cabin noise is constant and will mask the audio more than you expect. Try the headphones before you settle in.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

• Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
• Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
• Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Start by hearing the furthest sound you can find.
2. 0:11Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
3. 0:26Let your attention settle on the space between your nose and your upper lip, where the air passes.
4. 0:42Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
5. 0:54Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
6. 1:06Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
7. 1:17Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
8. 1:28Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
9. 1:40Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
10. 1:52Notice your heels making contact with the floor or the bed.
11. 2:04Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
12. 2:21There is no correct amount of the day folding itself up to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
13. 2:39Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
14. 2:51We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
15. 3:06Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
16. 3:16If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
17. 3:29Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
18. 3:45I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
19. 3:58If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
20. 4:11You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
21. 4:26I'll step back. You stay here.
22. 4:36Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
23. 4:49Remain here for a few more breaths.
24. 4:59Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
25. 5:12Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
26. 5:26Keep following the air.
27. 5:35Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
28. 5:47Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
29. 6:00Stay here a little longer.
30. 6:09Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
31. 6:22Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
32. 6:36Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
33. 6:48the quiet your mind keeps postponing may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
34. 7:06When the heaviness your body already knows arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
35. 7:25Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
36. 7:39When the day folding itself up presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
37. 7:58Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
38. 8:12Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
39. 8:25A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
40. 8:36With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
41. 8:51No rush to move on.
42. 9:00Let the quiet end on its own rather than cutting it off.
43. 9:13If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
44. 9:27Let the quiet do its 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.