Sleep Meditation

Sleep problems and evening practice are not the same subject, and confusing the two is why a lot of advice on this fails. If you cannot fall asleep because your body is wired, relaxation techniques help directly. If you cannot fall asleep because your mind is reviewing the day, relaxation alone tends to produce a very relaxed person who is still awake.

The articles here separate the two cases. Progressive muscle relaxation and the body scan work on physical tension and are best done lying down, with no requirement to stay conscious until the end. The guide to overthinking at night addresses the other case, where the problem is the content of your thinking rather than your level of arousal.

The evening meditation piece sits between them and deals with the hour before bed, which is often where the real fix is. What you do at nine o'clock matters more than what you do at eleven.

Two limits worth stating plainly. None of this treats insomnia, and if you have been sleeping badly for months that is worth a doctor rather than another technique. And a practice that leaves you more alert is not a failed practice — it is a practice in the wrong slot.

Where to start

• Body Scan Meditation for Sleep: A Step-by-Step Guide — if your body is tense and you can practise lying down.
• How to Stop Overthinking at Night: A Practical Guide — if your mind is reviewing the day rather than winding down.
• Evening Meditation: How to Wind Down and Sleep Better — if the real problem is the hour before bed.

Try one for a fortnight rather than rotating between them nightly. Sleep practices take longer to show an effect than daytime ones, partly because the thing you are measuring — how quickly you fell asleep — is the thing you are least able to observe.