Noting for sleep: 15 minutes, on a plane

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 15 minutes of noting for sleep, on a plane. A guided session of about 15 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 noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Notice whether you're leaning forward. Most people are, slightly, all day.
2. 0:12If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
3. 0:27Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
4. 0:42Notice whether your breathing is high in your chest or low in your belly. Just notice. No fixing.
5. 0:58Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
6. 1:11Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
7. 1:26Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
8. 1:38Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
9. 1:51Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
10. 2:02Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
11. 2:14Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
12. 2:25Imagine softening the edges of the quiet your mind keeps postponing. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
13. 2:43Imagine the heaviness your body already knows as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
14. 3:02Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
15. 3:15You do not have to win against the day folding itself up. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
16. 3:33If the quiet your mind keeps postponing starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
17. 3:50Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
18. 4:03Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
19. 4:13Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
20. 4:27Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
21. 4:41No rush to move on.
22. 4:50Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
23. 5:03Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
24. 5:15No need to open your eyes yet.
25. 5:25Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
26. 5:39Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
27. 5:51Remain here for a few more breaths.
28. 6:01Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
29. 6:12Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
30. 6:25Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
31. 6:36If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
32. 6:50Let the quiet do its work.
33. 7:00I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
34. 7:13Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
35. 7:26Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
36. 7:39Stay here a little longer.
37. 7:48Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
38. 8:00Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
39. 8:11A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
40. 8:26If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
41. 8:39Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
42. 8:51Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
43. 9:05If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
44. 9:20A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
45. 9:31Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
46. 9:46If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
47. 10:01Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
48. 10:12When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
49. 10:27Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
50. 10:38Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
51. 10:50Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
52. 11:00Nothing about the heaviness your body already knows has to be explained or justified in this room.
53. 11:15When the day folding itself up arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
54. 11:34Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
55. 11:46the quiet your mind keeps postponing may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
56. 12:04Notice where the heaviness your body already knows lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
57. 12:23Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
58. 12:37If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
59. 12:50Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
60. 13:02Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
61. 13:14Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
62. 13:26You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
63. 13:41Take the next breath slowly.
64. 13:50Stand up when you're ready. The list hasn't grown while you were here.
65. 14:03Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
66. 14:18Nothing changes for a moment.

Questions people ask

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