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Mindful meditation can be a gentle pathway to deeper, more restful sleep. We’ll explore the calming science behind it, guide you through a simple bedtime practice, and share two easy, comforting techniques from wellness expert Joy Bauer to help you ease into slumber peacefully.
6 Min Read | By Anna Ashbarry
Last Modified 18 September 2025 First Added 29 October 2019
Reviewed for Accuracy by Dr Jason Ellis
Our Sleep Survey revealed that 37% of us struggle to sleep due to stress, while only 6% enjoy consistent, quality rest.
Research shows that meditation can help improve sleep quality, reduce anxiety, and calm the mind for a peaceful night. In this article, we will walk you through a step-by-step mindful meditation for sleep and share top resources to help you easily drift off.
Before heading to bed, make sure that all distractions are out of reach. Put your phone on silent or away in another room and either turn your lights off or dim them so they’re conducive to relaxation. Finally, you won’t want to move out of bed after you’ve meditated, so make sure you’re wearing what you would usually snooze in.
Stretch out and assess your body, noting any tension you may be holding. Work from your toes right up to your head, thinking about relaxing each muscle, especially in your jaw and shoulders. If you feel any tension, take time to do some simple stretches to loosen it.
Now, we’ll start what’s classically considered meditation. Take three deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Ensure each in-breath reaches your diaphragm. It can help to place your hand on your stomach and feel the rise and fall to ensure you are breathing deeply enough.
Once you’ve taken the first three deep breaths, close your eyes and begin to breathe naturally.
Follow your breath by focusing your mind on inhaling and exhaling. Notice your belly rise and fall with each breath and clear your mind of any thoughts and distractions. Don’t feel concerned if your mind starts to wander; simply redirect your attention back to the breath and allow those thoughts to pass. Meditation is all about becoming more aware of how the body and mind feel, so awareness of thoughts creeping in is absolutely normal.
Quietly move your attention from your breath to your surroundings. Keep your eyes closed but switch your focus to the sounds, smells and feel of your environment. Concentrate on how your body connects to the bed and the feeling of gravity pulling you down. Become aware of how your clothing and bed covers feel against your skin. While going through this process, keep your breathing natural and don’t worry about thoughts that may stray into your consciousness.
Mindfulness is often the hardest stage for most people when meditating. However, this stage is simply about letting go and allowing our body to reach its natural state. Breathe normally and allow thoughts to come and go. When you recognise that you’re focusing on a specific thought, note it and then allow it to pass. If you find this difficult, it can help to turn your attention back to your breath.
Now’s the time to stop consciously meditating and reflect upon how your body feels. Before you drift off to sleep, become aware of how calm you feel. Granted, if you’re meditating right before sleep, you may have already drifted off at this stage! If not, simply become grateful for the relaxation you have now achieved.
If you’re still finding yourself lying awake after trying the above classic technique, health and well-being expert Joy Bauer shares two other simple meditation techniques for sleep that help to calm the mind and body for rest.
This technique involves repeating a particular sound to calm your body and quieten the thoughts buzzing about in your mind. Repetition of the mantra is thought to help you disconnect from distracting or stressful thoughts so that you can tune into your mind’s stillness and peace.
The word mantra has two parts: ‘man’, which is from a Sanskrit word for mind, and ‘tra’, the root of the word for instrument. Literally, mantra means ‘instrument of the mind’. Figuratively speaking, it means ‘revealed sound’. The most well-known mantra is, of course, ‘Om’ (or aum).
Not feeling ‘Om’? No problem. Let your mind decide which sound is most pleasing to you. Then repeat it until your thoughts seem quieter and you feel more at peace (and sleepy).
In the Buddhist tradition, the word Vipassana means ‘insight into the true nature of reality’. Essentially, this form of meditation consists of using self-observation to see things as they truly are. This means recognising both the desirable and undesirable elements of your true nature without passing judgement on yourself.
To try it, think about the activities of the day that may have been off-putting. Ask yourself: what about that occurrence made me uncomfortable or upset? What steps should I take to reconcile this occurrence within myself? How can I shed this feeling so I can ‘leave it’ in today and not carry it over into tomorrow? Or, how can I react differently so as not to let it affect me as severely?
Being mindful and honest about your thoughts before you go to bed may allow you to release stress and bring less of it into your sleep and the days that follow. This will help you both get to sleep and stay asleep throughout the night, making you more able to deal effectively with stressful situations in the future, too.
Follow Joy Bauer on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. For general health information and delicious recipes, visit Joy’s website at JoyBauer.com.
Read our article for more tips on how to fall asleep faster.
Yes, meditating in bed is not only possible, it’s so popular it even has its own nickname, ‘beditation’.
Meditation doesn’t require a specific posture or location. It’s all about finding what works for you.
For morning meditation, we recommend sitting up against your headboard or wall, so you aren’t at risk of falling back asleep. If you’re practising meditation before sleep, lying down in a comfortable position is absolutely fine.
However, as meditation centres around focusing on your breath, it’s best to lie in a position where you can breathe both deeply and comfortably.
Meditating has been shown to aid the quality of your sleep and can also combat some sleeping disorders. Meditation works in several ways to support falling asleep more easily and achieving deeper sleep throughout the night. One key mechanism is that it helps calm the nervous system: meditation encourages the shift from the “fight-or-flight” mode to the “rest-and-digest” mode, which slows heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and reduces stress hormones like cortisol.
Studies have also found that mindfulness-based meditation significantly improves sleep quality, limiting disturbances throughout the night.
Meditating before sleep can have both immediate and long-term benefits. Research shows it not only helps you relax in the moment but also improves overall sleep quality over time:
Meditation can be a powerful tool for easing insomnia. By helping to quiet racing thoughts, lower stress levels, and relax the body, it tackles some of the key barriers that keep people awake at night.
Research has found that a mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia reduced the time participants spent awake during the night and improved overall sleep efficiency. Over time, regular meditation practice can help retrain the mind to wind down more naturally at bedtime, making it easier to both fall asleep and stay asleep.
The Mindfulness App – This app is suitable for both experienced and beginner meditators. It offers a free trial and two premium subscription plans.
Calm – This free app offers a simple 30-day programme including meditation sessions and sleep stories.
Headspace – Headspace is a free app that guides you to create the ideal conditions for a good night’s sleep.
Sleep Meditation Podcast – Relaxing sounds of nature and ambient music.
Guided Sleep Meditations – A soothing resource with a countdown method from 10 to 1.
Sleep With Me – A podcast that rambles boring stories to send you off to sleep.
Guided Sleep Meditation – A haven of peace for ultra-deep relaxation.
Sleep Hypnosis for Floating Relaxation – A technique to calm your mind for a night of deep sleep.
Deep Sleep Meditation to Calm an Overactive Mind – Mindful movement to reduce anxious and worried thoughts.
Meditation is a simple yet powerful way to calm the mind at the end of a busy day. Whether you follow a step-by-step mindful sleep meditation routine, try repeating a soothing mantra, or reflect with a Vipassana practice, each technique offers a gentle pathway into rest. With regular practice, you may find that bedtime feels less like a struggle and more like a welcome opportunity to recharge. So the next time you slip under the covers, take a few moments to pause, breathe, and let meditation guide you towards a more peaceful night’s sleep.
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