5 Tips for Using Mindfulness to Fall Asleep Peacefully + A Meditation Before Bed

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You’re in bed, the lights are out, so why aren’t you asleep?

You worked hard all day—be it chasing the kids around, meeting a deadline or working on house projects. You’re exhausted. So why the heck is your brain abuzz with thoughts from today and your to-do list for tomorrow?

Quieting our brain enough to fall asleep is seriously challenging—and sometimes impossible! 

I’ve had difficulty sleeping for as far back as I can remember—even as a child. The only time sleep came easily for me was when one of the kids was up all night.

But I’m sure we can all agree we don’t want to rely on that level of exhaustion to get a good night’s sleep!

Thankfully, I discovered mindfulness! And in addition to subduing my anxiety, the practice also improved my sleep. 

But before we delve into how we can utilize mindfulness to fall asleep, here’s a quick refresher for anyone who needs it.

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What’s Mindfulness and How Can it Improve My Sleep?

When you practice mindfulness, you purposefully bring attention to the present moment and focus on something in that moment without judgement.

Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, and since stress and anxiety are often our two greatest enemies when trying to relax and fall asleep, it makes sense that using mindfulness at night could make falling asleep easier!

5 Ways You Can Use Mindfulness to Fall Asleep

Now that we’ve clarified why mindfulness is helpful at bedtime, let’s get started. 

Here’s how to use mindfulness to fall asleep peacefully—including my favorite meditation before bed!

Before you continue, the following is for informational and educational purposes only. This post shares my experiences and is not intended to be used as medical advice. Check out my disclaimer for more info.

1. Give Your Body the Sleep Signal.

Don’t underestimate the power of a relaxing and reliable bedtime routine. 

When my babies had trouble sleeping, I was desperate for advice on sleep. So I read a lot of books to figure out how to help kids sleep. And almost all of them stressed the importance of a predictable bedtime routine. 

Helping the body transition from day to night shouldn’t be reserved for children. In fact, I could argue it may be even more critical for adults—especially parents. 

Once I get the kids down to bed, a million thoughts run through my head about what I could get done now that I’ve got some time to myself: I can fold laundry. I can work on deadlines. I can catch up on emails…

And for some reason, some irrational part of my brain thinks I’m capable of doing all of those after 9 p.m.—after a day filled with chasing kids, helping with homework, and being a taxi driver!

Expecting your mind and head to transition from all that activity to a completely relaxed state is unreasonable. 

Set a time—maybe 15 minutes before you want to be in bed—to start your bedtime routine.

Just like you’d do for a child, take a bath or a shower if that’s what relaxes you. Or keep it simple and wash your face and brush your teeth to prepare your body for the end of the day. 

But instead of rushing through the face wash, use mindfulness and bring your attention to the present task. Feel the warm water on your hands, the foam of the bubbles against your cheeks, or the circular motion of the toothbrush as it skims your gums. 

Let any stress, anxiety, or thoughts of all you have left to do tomorrow fall away as you focus on only the task at hand.

2. Allow Your Mind to Revisit the Day.

Journaling isn’t for everyone. But unloading your daily events on paper gives your mind freedom from baggage that may disrupt your sleep. 

If you experienced upsetting events today and didn’t share them, thoughts of those events are trapped inside your body, and may lead to trouble sleeping. Journaling about your day can be extremely effective in healing your heart. 

Even if you had a wonderful day, it’s worth recording. The act of recalling your day may bring to mind happy and heartwarming memories that you’d like to document for the future. Plus, it could be the start to making gratitude a daily habit.

Don’t stress yourself out by feeling like you need to write a lot. We don’t want to add another item to your to-do list! 

I used to write several pages in my journal each night when I was younger. However, since having kids, I wanted the process to be way less involved because I also write in baby memory books and I didn’t want to burn myself out on journaling.

I received a Line-a-Day Journal at my baby shower and decided to try it out. I’m on year eight of it (each book is five years, so I’m on my second book). I find the process of recalling enough of my day to fill only a few sentences forces me to focus on the most important part of my day. Plus, it’s fun to compare years and see what I did last year on this same day!

And remember, don’t overthink this. Find what works for you—writing only a sentence, or a paragraph, or pages! Keep your goal in mind: Get events from today off your chest so you can be less stressed and get better sleep.

3. Unwind by Setting the Mood.

Your body is refreshed from your nighttime routine, your mind is free from today’s stresses with all your thoughts spilled onto the pages of your journal.

Now, let’s set the mood. 

Part of practicing mindfulness is touching base with your senses. Let’s do that now.

What relaxes you? Think about what pleases your senses. Is there a scent you love? Mine is lavender. I use a lavender pillow spray and a lavender hand lotion before bed. The scent triggers me to take slow, calm breaths.

Is there a sound you enjoy? If you like the sound of the rain or a creek bubbling through a forest, consider using a sound machine.

What temperature do you like? If it’s cold out, and warmth relaxes you, throw a heat pack into the microwave for a minute and rest it on your neck and shoulders. 

How about textures? If you like the feel of satin or a soft cotton, there are tons of throw pillows you can use to snuggle with or rest your head on. When I struggled with PTSD after my miscarriages, I always caressed the same soft pillow during my therapy sessions. I didn’t notice until my therapist pointed it out. I decided to purchase one for my bed so I could experience the same calming sensation at home when I was nervous or anxious. 

One of my favorite items to set a tranquil mood in my bedroom is a Himalayan salt lamp. There’s a lot of information out there about the benefits of salt lamps. In my house, my kids and I have found the orange lights super calming. We have one with a dimming setting so we can set the light low at night. In addition to setting a sleep-inducing mood, the soft warm glow provides an excellent night light for the kids.

Reflect on when you feel the most relaxed and figure out how to bring that into the bedroom to help you fall asleep. 

4. Pray, Relinquish Control and Find Gratitude.

When you’re ready to rest your head on the pillow, you may still have thoughts and worries you can’t shake. It’s totally normal—we have a lot going on in our lives! 

But we can’t control everything. (I constantly have to remind myself of this!)

We can only affect what’s within our power. And if we’ve done all we can do, it’s time to offer up our worries.

The saying “Let go and let God” one that could be practiced when you’re having trouble sleeping.

So, how do you relinquish control? If you’re familiar with prayer, express your worries and fears to whomever you pray to. I didn’t find faith in my life until I was in my 20s, so this was a difficult concept for me until I became an adult. 

I also use this time to ask for forgiveness if there’s something I know I did wrong. I also ask for guidance in doing better tomorrow. It grants me permission to pause fretting about today’s mistakes, and improve upon them tomorrow. 

Lastly, I use this time of prayer to express gratitude. 

My busy day often causes me to lose sight of what matters in life. And how much I have to be grateful for.

Listing what I’m thankful for reminds me of the age-old technique we used to practice when we had difficulty sleeping: Counting sheep! 

Think of this step as counting blessings!

Prayer and relinquishing control is the last step in ridding the mind of thoughts that don’t involve the present moment.

These four steps prepare you for this next and final step: using mindfulness exercises to fall asleep.

5. Perform a Mindfulness Meditation for Sleep.

Yay! You’re relaxed, focused on the present, and ready to try out a mindfulness meditation before bed!

Before we begin, let me start by saying I often fall asleep during these mindfulness exercises—so if that happens to you, don’t beat yourself up! Hey, you got what you came here for: help falling asleep!

When I do a mindfulness meditation for sleep, I like to get comfortable. I prefer to lie on my back in bed, but if you’re more relaxed sitting on the bed or in a comfortable chair—or even on a soft rug, that will work too.

Guided Meditation Before Bed

Read these steps all the way through first, and then begin your meditation with these steps in mind.

1. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, allowing your chest to expand with the inhale and deflate with the exhale. With each breath you should feel your shoulders grow less tense, too. 
2. Now let your breath grow less forced, and call your attention to certain parts of your body. Let’s start at the feet and work our way up. Notice how the ground or mattress texture feels against your feet. Feel the air circulating around your toes. While focusing on an area, you may notice aches or pains here, too. Don’t worry about “why” it is achy, or what you need to do to fix it. Just notice it and move on. We’re trying to connect more with the body and how it’s feeling.
3. After the feet, move up the legs, then to the abdomen and arms. Take as much or as little time as you need on each part of your body. If thoughts other than your breath or your body come into you head, gently bring your attention back.
4. Once I get to my upper body, I tend to pause a little longer if I’m stressed or anxious. There’s usually a lot going on around my chest, shoulders, and neck, so I allow myself to absorb all the sensations before moving on to my head and face.  
5. After letting your attention dance around inside your head and against the backs of my eyes, send your focus up and out of the top of your head. 
6. Take three slow, deep breaths. With each exhale, let your body grow heavier and sink into the mattress, chair or rug. 
7. If you’re already in bed, keep your eyes closed and roll over into whatever position is comfortable for sleep. If you’re in another place, slowly open your eyes and move to your bed, keeping your breath slow.

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Still awake? If not, yay! You used mindfulness to fall asleep and get the Zzzs you deserve! 

If you’re still up, you may want to try my favorite step-by-step guided meditation and mindfulness exercises for sleep. They’re my go-tos for nights following days of high anxiety, stress or sadness.

And Now, Over to You…

Before you go, let me know what bedtime routines you find relaxing in the comments below. And if you use use mindfulness meditation for sleep, please share! I’d love to hear what works for you.

Stay mindful, even when your mind’s full.
~Chelsea

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