Meditation for falling asleep: 5-minute body scan session, on the road

About this practice

For the times on the road when falling asleep takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, body scan. 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 on a train

• Pick a window seat if you can and let the view do part of the work
• Set an alarm for your stop
• Keep the bag on your lap rather than unfastening to find it later

The motion can make reading or screens uncomfortable, which is another reason audio works better here.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Unclench your jaw. You were probably holding it without noticing.
2. 0:12There's no need to try harder than this.
3. 0:23If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
4. 0:37Nothing here needs to be pleasant. Neutral is fine. Dull is fine.
5. 0:50Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
6. 1:03Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
7. 1:16Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
8. 1:28Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
9. 1:40Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
10. 1:51Let your body keep settling.
11. 2:00Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
12. 2:11You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
13. 2:24Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
14. 2:35You have been carrying the surrender at the end of the day for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
15. 2:57Imagine softening the edges of the slow drift toward sleep. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
16. 3:15Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
17. 3:29There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
18. 3:47If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
19. 4:01A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
20. 4:12If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
21. 4:25Let the pace of the last few minutes set the pace of the next few.
22. 4:39Take the next breath slowly.

Questions people ask

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