15-Minute Guided Meditation For Sleep | Lights-Out Reset

Some nights, your body’s in bed but your mind is still clocked in. You replay a line you said, rehearse tomorrow, or get snagged on tiny sounds that never bothered you at noon. When that happens, trying to “make sleep happen” can keep you awake.

A guided meditation works from a different angle. It gives your attention one simple job, then repeats that job until your system starts to settle. You’re not chasing a perfect calm state. You’re giving your brain fewer reasons to stay on alert.

Below you’ll get a full 15-minute script you can read, record, or follow silently. You’ll also get small adjustments for common sleep snags, plus a no-drama way to tell if the practice is paying off over the next two weeks.

Why a 15-minute practice fits bedtime

Fifteen minutes is long enough to shift your breathing and muscle tone, yet short enough that it won’t feel like another task. When a routine feels doable, you repeat it. Repetition is what turns a one-off calming moment into a bedtime cue.

The goal isn’t to “clear your mind.” The goal is to stop wrestling with it. Thoughts will show up. You notice them, name them, and return to your next step. That change in stance is the whole move.

What guided meditation means here

Guided means you follow a set of spoken directions: where to place attention, how to breathe, and what to do when your mind wanders. You can read the script below and pause after each line. You can also record yourself once, then hit play each night.

If you want a grounded overview of what research has found so far, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has a plain-language summary that includes benefits, limits, and safety notes. See NCCIH’s meditation and mindfulness overview for a clear snapshot.

Set up your space in two minutes

You don’t need special gear. You just need fewer interruptions and a position you can keep.

• Pick a posture you can forget. Back sleeping works well. Side sleeping is fine. If you snore on your back, choose your side.
• Dim the light. If you’re reading from a screen, drop brightness down. Audio-only works even better.
• Set one boundary. Tell yourself: “For 15 minutes, I’m not solving anything.” The practice starts there.
• Choose a soft timer. A harsh beep can jolt you awake. Use a gentle alarm if your device has one.

One rule that keeps the practice from backfiring

If you start judging the session, you’ll wind up more awake. Treat the 15 minutes like brushing your teeth. Some nights feel smooth. Some nights feel messy. You still did the routine.

15-Minute Guided Meditation For Sleep with a steady pace

Read this slowly. Leave small pauses. If you’re recording it, keep your tone low and plain.

Minute 0–2: Arrive

Lie down. Let your arms fall where they land. If it feels good, place one hand on your belly and one on your chest.

Notice the surface under you. The bed holds you up. You don’t have to hold yourself up right now.

Let your eyes rest. If your lids flutter, let them flutter.

Minute 2–5: Breathe low and slow

Take one slow breath in through your nose.

Let it out through your nose or softly through your mouth.

Now let your breathing find its own rhythm. Your job is to watch, not to control.

On the next exhale, let your shoulders drop a little. On the next exhale, let your jaw loosen a little.

If it helps, count exhales from 1 to 10, then start back at 1. If you lose the count, return to 1 with no reaction.

Minute 5–10: Scan and soften

Bring attention to your forehead. Let it smooth.

Move to your eyes. Let the muscles around them slacken.

Move to your jaw. Unclench. Let the tongue rest heavy.

Move to your shoulders. Let them sink.

Move to your chest and belly. Notice rise and fall. Let the belly be soft.

Move to your hips, thighs, knees, calves, and feet. Let your weight spread into the bed. Let the toes fall apart.

If thoughts show up, label them with one quiet word: “thinking.” Then return to the next body spot. That’s it.

Minute 10–13: Let the day slide off

Picture the day as a coat you can take off. Not throw away. Just set down for the night.

Pick one thing from today that you’re done carrying until morning. It can be a task, a worry, or a conversation.

Say to yourself: “Not now.” Then let the breath be the only thing you follow.

Minute 13–15: Drift with a simple phrase

With each exhale, repeat one small phrase in your head. Choose one:

• “Exhale, soften.”
• “Here, now.”
• “Let go.”

Keep repeating it. If you fall asleep mid-phrase, that’s fine. If you stay awake, you still trained your body to stand down.

What to do when your mind won’t slow down

Some nights feel like a pinball machine. When that happens, make the practice more structured, not more intense.

Use a narrower target

Pick one small sensation: the cool air at the tip of your nose, or the rise and fall of your belly. Stay there. Each time you wander, return to that single spot.

Try a longer exhale

Breathe in for a count of 4. Breathe out for a count of 6. Do that for ten cycles, then let the breath go natural again. If counting keeps you alert, drop the count.

Common sleep blockers and how to steer around them

It helps to know what’s pulling you out of rest. The table below pairs common bedtime problems with a matching cue you can use inside the 15-minute practice.

What keeps you awake	What you notice	Cue to use in the practice
Racing plans	Fast mental lists	Label “planning,” return to belly
Replaying a moment	Same scene loops	Label “replay,” shift to feet
Body restlessness	Urge to move	Tense then release calves twice
Clock watching	Time checks	Turn clock away, count exhales 1–10
Noise	Alert to sounds	Let sounds be “background,” stay with breath
Room feels warm	Sticky skin	Cool the room, scan jaw and shoulders
Room feels cold	Shallow breath	Add a layer, hand on belly to steady breath
Heartbeat feels loud	Attention locks on pulse	Follow the exhale, not the beat
Worry chain	“What if” spirals	Say “Not now,” return to the phrase
Phone pull	Urge to scroll	Put phone across the room, use audio only

Sleep habits can stack with meditation. The CDC’s sleep guidance lists behaviors that can help, like a consistent schedule, a quiet and cool room, and turning off devices before bed. See CDC’s “About Sleep” page and pick one change you can keep without a fight.

Make the script fit your night

Use the same 15-minute structure, then swap one element based on what you need.

If you wake at 3 a.m.

Restart at “Breathe low and slow” without checking the time. If you feel stuck in bed wide awake, get up and sit in dim light until you feel sleepy again, then return to bed. Behavior-based sleep care often uses steps like that. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s public education site gives an overview at Sleep Education’s CBT page.

If closing your eyes ramps you up

Keep your eyes half-open and rest your gaze on a fixed spot. Or place a hand on your belly and feel it rise and fall. If stillness feels sharp, add small movement: gently wiggle toes on each exhale for one minute, then stop.

Minute-by-minute map you can save

If you don’t want to reread the full script each night, this table is a compact map of the same 15 minutes.

Time	Focus	Prompt
0–2	Settle into the bed	Feel the surface hold your weight
2–5	Breath watching	Count exhales 1–10, restart at 1
5–10	Body scan	Soften jaw, shoulders, hips, legs
10–13	Release mental load	Choose one thing, say “Not now”
13–15	Quiet phrase	Repeat “Exhale, soften” or “Let go”

Two habits that pair well with the practice

• Screen-off buffer: Put bright screens away 30 minutes before bed.
• Same wake time: Get up at a steady time most days, even after a rough night.

For more sleep basics and habit ideas, see the NHLBI booklet at NHLBI’s “Your Guide to Healthy Sleep”.

Safety notes and when to seek medical care

Most people can try a short guided meditation without trouble. Still, pay attention to your response. If closing your eyes brings up intense distress, stop and switch to eyes-open grounding, like naming sensations in the room.

If sleep problems last for weeks, or daytime sleepiness affects driving or work, talk with a licensed clinician. If you suspect sleep apnea (loud snoring, choking awakenings, morning headaches), get checked soon.

A simple plan for the next 14 nights

Start small and keep it steady:

1. Pick a start time you can hit most nights.
2. Run the 15-minute script, even if you feel wide awake.
3. In the morning, write one line on how long it took to feel your body settle.
4. After 14 nights, keep what worked and drop what didn’t.

If you do nothing else, do this: breathe out longer than you breathe in for ten cycles, then soften your jaw and shoulders. That small reset often changes the tone of the night.