A Meditation to Settle Mind and Body for Sleep

If you’re feeling restless before bed or in the middle of the night, try this extended practice to soothe racing thoughts and ease tension in the body.

By Mark BertinMarch 25, 202612 Minute Meditation

There are so many reasons why we might struggle to get to sleep and stay asleep. Work or relationship stress, health concerns, hormonal changes, the state of the world—there’s plenty to keep us awake at night.

Here, Mark Bertin offers a soothing sleep practice to help soften our restlessness, using the breath as a calming anchor to gently allow our busy minds and tense bodies to rest.

This is a great go-to practice to keep as part of your regular sleep routine, or whenever you need support to settle mind and body. The more you do it, the more it will signal to your brain and body that it’s time for rest.

Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

Find a comfortable posture, typically lying on your back. Allow your arms and legs to fall gently to the side. If this posture isn’t comfortable for you, then find another posture you’ll be able to relax into over the course of this meditation. Keep your eyes open if you like, or allow them to lightly close. Begin the practice by taking a few deeper breaths and focusing as best as you’re able on that physical sensation your body makes with each breath, noting perhaps the rising and falling of your belly and chest. Perhaps a movement of the back of your body against whatever surface you’re lying on. Let go of any sense that you’re trying to make anything specific happen. We can’t force ourselves to relax any more than we can force ourselves to sleep. But using that sense of physical movement that your body makes with each breath as a place to lightly anchor your awareness and attention. Your mind may stay busy for now, and that’s normal. With a sense of gentleness and care, each time you notice your mind caught up in an emotional state or some pattern of thinking, simply come back with that sense of gentleness. You can say: I am aware I’m breathing in and aware I am breathing out. We’ll begin a guided body scan in which we’ll be paying attention to different parts of our body, both as a way to bring our mind back from its thinking and the places it wanders and also as an opportunity to relax our body physically. Start by bringing your awareness to your feet. You might notice touch or temperature. If you’re covered by a blanket, you might notice the sensation of the blanket draped over your feet and. For the next few minutes, when your mind wanders, bring your awareness back to your feet and let go a little bit of any tension or tightness you notice in your feet. No need to do anything with them, no need to move them around. Notice any sense that you’re getting wound up a little bit, that you are caught up in the need for sleep or wanting things to be different than they are. So make that sense of care and letting go part of this practice, too. You can’t force that away, but noticing it’s part of the experience now and returning again to the sensation of your feet wherever they’re lying right now. Next, move your awareness from your feet up into your lower legs. Relax them if you notice anything tight or uncomfortable. Stay patient with yourself as best as you’re able. Next, move attention into your knees and your upper legs. Notice where your thoughts go or where your awareness wanders. Come back as many times as you need. Next, move your awareness through your pelvis and your buttocks. Up into your lower back. Noticing the pressure against the bed or wherever you’re lying. Maybe there’s a sense of movement with each breath. If at any point, because of discomfort or anything else, you feel like you need to make a little physical adjustment, that’s normal and that’s okay too. Maybe settling and observing for a few breaths, and then with a sense of intention, make whatever adjustment you need to make next. Now, move your awareness into your upper back—a place many of us hold a lot of tension and tightness. Respect that and pay attention to it, while also letting go and relaxing whatever you find available right now. Stay patient with your mind for staying busy and come back to your body as many times as you need. Next, move your awareness to your belly. Note if you like the gentle rising and falling of your belly with each breath. Note any other physical sensations that might be happening now in this part of your body. Often in the belly, we also encounter some reflection of our emotional state. Note that and let go a little bit if you can—not forcing it away, but recognizing it and releasing a little bit if you’re able to do that right now. Now, shift your awareness into your chest. Keep using that same perspective of observing patience. Note the movement as your body breathes. Note any reflection of your emotional state in this moment. And then without forcing anything, see if you can sustain that awareness and let go a little bit around it. Ease up if there’s a sense of tightness or tension there. What if that becomes difficult? That’s okay. Simply come back to that physical movement of your body with each breath. Now, move your awareness into your hands. Relax your hands. Ease all the muscles of your palms and the back of your hands and your fingers and let go. When you’re ready, transition to your forearms. Then your upper arms and your shoulders with that same sense of awareness and letting go. Then your shoulders and relaxing your shoulders. Your neck and relaxing your neck. And then noticing your facial expression and the muscles of your face. And relaxing your facial expression as much as you’re able. And then the entirety of your head. Now, expand your awareness for a few moments to the entirety of your body. Use your breath as an anchor, if that open awareness is too distracting. There’s nothing special to do right now, except as best as you’re able, noticing the state of your mind and returning to your body. As we continue this practice with a sense of open awareness, it might be helpful to add a short mental phrase, such as I am aware I’m breathing in and aware I am breathing out. Allow your body and mind to settle into this space, not wrestling with thoughts or emotions, but perhaps engaging with them a little more gently, noticing them and coming back again to the breath as many times as you need. Continue now, as long as you need, with this sense of body awareness and letting go, allowing things to be. There will be no ending bell. Simply let yourself drift now, into a healthy night’s sleep.