Meditation for insomnia: 10-minute breathing session, on a rest day

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 10 minutes of breathing for insomnia, on a rest day. A guided session of about 10 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 a rest day

• Do it without a reason or a target
• Later in the day, unhurried, in good light
• Let it be longer than usual if you want

Rest that has to be justified is not really rest. This one is allowed to be pointless.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Nothing needs to be decided in the next few minutes. Park the decisions.
2. 0:13Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
3. 0:29For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:43Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
5. 0:59Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
6. 1:12Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
7. 1:28Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
8. 1:39Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
9. 1:52Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
10. 2:04Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
11. 2:16Let the exhale carry a little of the wide-awake mind at 2am with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
12. 2:35If the counting of hours until morning starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
13. 2:52Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
14. 3:04Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
15. 3:18Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
16. 3:30If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
17. 3:43There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
18. 3:58A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
19. 4:09Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
20. 4:21Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
21. 4:35Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
22. 4:46Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
23. 5:00Nothing changes for a moment.
24. 5:09Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
25. 5:21Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
26. 5:34A few seconds more.
27. 5:43Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
28. 5:54Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
29. 6:07Remain here for a few more breaths.
30. 6:17Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
31. 6:29Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
32. 6:43Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
33. 6:55When the frustration of not sleeping presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
34. 7:14If you catch yourself fighting the wide-awake mind at 2am, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
35. 7:32Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
36. 7:45Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while the counting of hours until morning is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
37. 8:04Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
38. 8:17If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
39. 8:30Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
40. 8:42If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
41. 8:58Stay here a little longer.
42. 9:07Let the last minute of quiet be the last minute of quiet.
43. 9:20If 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.