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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

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Relaxing Before Sleep

This pre-sleep routine is designed to help shift your mind from doing mode to being mode - the ultimate state of mind for transitioning into deep sleep.

Hi, welcome to this pre-sleep routine. This routine is specifically designed to help your mind switch from doing mode to being mode, the ultimate state of mind for deep sleep. During this meditation, we will be going through a three part process of one, settling the mind; two, deeply relaxing the body; and three, a reflection on gratitude, wisdom and kindness. I do encourage you to listen to this session in the location where you plan to fall asleep, as it will allow for a seamless transition. So just taking a moment to ensure that you've done everything that you need to do before going to bed, so that you can now just let it all go and settle in here.

When you're ready, laying in a comfortable position in bed. Having the arms alongside the body. With palms facing upward or gently curled toward the body. And let your body relax and soften down into the bed. Feeling the weight of the body settling.

And your mind relaxing into this moment. Letting go of everything that happened today, all the plans for tomorrow. Just arriving right here in the present moment. And as a support to settling in here and letting go, we'll take three deep, slow, full breaths. Breathing in.

And out. And take two more at your own pace. With each exhale, just letting go of the day and relaxing into this moment, into your bed a little more fully. Eventually letting the breath return to its natural rhythm. Feeling into the contact points between your body and the surface beneath you.

Notice your chest gently expanding and contracting. Feeling your belly rising and falling. Resting your awareness here in this wave-like movement of the breath. Bringing all of your awareness now into your body and all the way down to your feet, and into the ankles. Feeling any sensations in your ankles.

As you breathe in, gently flex your feet so that the toes come back towards the body. And as you breathe out, pointing the feet forward, away from the body. And again, with each breath, flexing the feet. Doing this a few times to feel the changing sensations in the feet and the ankles. Just relaxing this part of the body.

Doing this as a way of settling and grounding your attention, letting go of the day and being here. And then letting go of this movement. Bringing the focus to the hands now. Feeling all of the sensations here. Noticing the position of each of your fingers.

And on the next out-breath, curl your hands into a gentle fist, not too tight. And on the in-breath, stretching the hands out. Again, not making the hands two tense, just a gentle stretch. And you can continue with this movement and breathing pattern for a few rounds. Exhaling into a closed fist.

Inhaling, open hands. Gently feeling all of this sensations and follows in this movement as if you were a curious child. Eventually letting the hands become still again. And bringing focus to the back of your head against your pillow. Feeling all of the sensations that are present here at this contact point between your head and pillow.

And you can start to roll your head gently from side to side. And as you roll to the right, you can take an exhale. And then as you come back to center, taking an inhale. Rolling to the left, exhale. Back to center, inhale.

And continuing with this movement pattern, syncing the movement with the breathing. And then the next time the head comes to center, you can let the whole body be still. Noticing if there's any tension remaining in the body. If so you can bring your awareness there, tensing that area just a little bit more, a subtle grip, and then practice releasing. Letting this help you surrender more deeply into the surface beneath you.

And so now that we've helped to calm and relax the body, we're going to take a moment to reflect back over the day. Pondering what was something about today that you are grateful for. This is your opportunity to reflect on the good things about the day, the highlights. They can be as simple, like a nice moment with the sun warming your skin. Could be a connection with someone, a good meal.

Or just a moment of peace and ease. So take a moment to run through some of these experiences in your mind. Giving yourself the space to feel that sense of gratitude. And we'll now shift the reflection. As you think back over the day, notice if there was anything that felt more difficult, something that didn't work out the way you hoped, or perhaps moments when you weren't your best or you were pulled away from your values and purpose.

Despite our best intentions in any day, there are things that do not go as planned. There can be a power in reflection. To think back to these experiences, to hold them in awareness, not to dwell on them, but to learn from them, considering them in hindsight, asking, is there anything you can learn from this experience? Anything you might do differently next time in a similar context? Notice what arises for you in this reflection. Let this insight or learning feel as though it's integrating into your being. And then letting go of whatever happened today.

Relaxing back into this moment. And finally, we' ll bring our mind to any acts of kindness that you witnessed today. Perhaps from other people or it could be an act of kindness that you did yourself. No matter how big or small, just taking some time to reflect on kindness that you experienced. As you reflect on this, noticing how it feels to dwell on moments of kindness.

And really see if you can let yourself take in any of the good feelings that come up in this reflection, absorbing them like a sponge taking in water. And now feel the weight of your body settling deeper and deeper into the bed. Letting any remaining tension in the body and mind feel as though it's melting away. And letting a sense of relaxation emerge. No need to hold on to anything right now.

It's okay to let go. With each exhale, relaxing and releasing more deeply. Letting the mind and the body switch off for the evening. Softening into this moment. And as this practice comes to a close, taking a final deep breath in.

And out. Thank you for your practice. And I'm wishing you a wonderful night's sleep. Take care.

Routine

4.3

Relaxing Before Sleep

This pre-sleep routine is designed to help shift your mind from doing mode to being mode - the ultimate state of mind for transitioning into deep sleep.

Duration

Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.

Hi, welcome to this pre-sleep routine. This routine is specifically designed to help your mind switch from doing mode to being mode, the ultimate state of mind for deep sleep. During this meditation, we will be going through a three part process of one, settling the mind; two, deeply relaxing the body; and three, a reflection on gratitude, wisdom and kindness. I do encourage you to listen to this session in the location where you plan to fall asleep, as it will allow for a seamless transition. So just taking a moment to ensure that you've done everything that you need to do before going to bed, so that you can now just let it all go and settle in here.

When you're ready, laying in a comfortable position in bed. Having the arms alongside the body. With palms facing upward or gently curled toward the body. And let your body relax and soften down into the bed. Feeling the weight of the body settling.

And your mind relaxing into this moment. Letting go of everything that happened today, all the plans for tomorrow. Just arriving right here in the present moment. And as a support to settling in here and letting go, we'll take three deep, slow, full breaths. Breathing in.

And out. And take two more at your own pace. With each exhale, just letting go of the day and relaxing into this moment, into your bed a little more fully. Eventually letting the breath return to its natural rhythm. Feeling into the contact points between your body and the surface beneath you.

Notice your chest gently expanding and contracting. Feeling your belly rising and falling. Resting your awareness here in this wave-like movement of the breath. Bringing all of your awareness now into your body and all the way down to your feet, and into the ankles. Feeling any sensations in your ankles.

As you breathe in, gently flex your feet so that the toes come back towards the body. And as you breathe out, pointing the feet forward, away from the body. And again, with each breath, flexing the feet. Doing this a few times to feel the changing sensations in the feet and the ankles. Just relaxing this part of the body.

Doing this as a way of settling and grounding your attention, letting go of the day and being here. And then letting go of this movement. Bringing the focus to the hands now. Feeling all of the sensations here. Noticing the position of each of your fingers.

And on the next out-breath, curl your hands into a gentle fist, not too tight. And on the in-breath, stretching the hands out. Again, not making the hands two tense, just a gentle stretch. And you can continue with this movement and breathing pattern for a few rounds. Exhaling into a closed fist.

Inhaling, open hands. Gently feeling all of this sensations and follows in this movement as if you were a curious child. Eventually letting the hands become still again. And bringing focus to the back of your head against your pillow. Feeling all of the sensations that are present here at this contact point between your head and pillow.

And you can start to roll your head gently from side to side. And as you roll to the right, you can take an exhale. And then as you come back to center, taking an inhale. Rolling to the left, exhale. Back to center, inhale.

And continuing with this movement pattern, syncing the movement with the breathing. And then the next time the head comes to center, you can let the whole body be still. Noticing if there's any tension remaining in the body. If so you can bring your awareness there, tensing that area just a little bit more, a subtle grip, and then practice releasing. Letting this help you surrender more deeply into the surface beneath you.

And so now that we've helped to calm and relax the body, we're going to take a moment to reflect back over the day. Pondering what was something about today that you are grateful for. This is your opportunity to reflect on the good things about the day, the highlights. They can be as simple, like a nice moment with the sun warming your skin. Could be a connection with someone, a good meal.

Or just a moment of peace and ease. So take a moment to run through some of these experiences in your mind. Giving yourself the space to feel that sense of gratitude. And we'll now shift the reflection. As you think back over the day, notice if there was anything that felt more difficult, something that didn't work out the way you hoped, or perhaps moments when you weren't your best or you were pulled away from your values and purpose.

Despite our best intentions in any day, there are things that do not go as planned. There can be a power in reflection. To think back to these experiences, to hold them in awareness, not to dwell on them, but to learn from them, considering them in hindsight, asking, is there anything you can learn from this experience? Anything you might do differently next time in a similar context? Notice what arises for you in this reflection. Let this insight or learning feel as though it's integrating into your being. And then letting go of whatever happened today.

Relaxing back into this moment. And finally, we' ll bring our mind to any acts of kindness that you witnessed today. Perhaps from other people or it could be an act of kindness that you did yourself. No matter how big or small, just taking some time to reflect on kindness that you experienced. As you reflect on this, noticing how it feels to dwell on moments of kindness.

And really see if you can let yourself take in any of the good feelings that come up in this reflection, absorbing them like a sponge taking in water. And now feel the weight of your body settling deeper and deeper into the bed. Letting any remaining tension in the body and mind feel as though it's melting away. And letting a sense of relaxation emerge. No need to hold on to anything right now.

It's okay to let go. With each exhale, relaxing and releasing more deeply. Letting the mind and the body switch off for the evening. Softening into this moment. And as this practice comes to a close, taking a final deep breath in.

And out. Thank you for your practice. And I'm wishing you a wonderful night's sleep. Take care.

Routine

4.3

Duration

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