Once it starts, you can turn the screen off and set the phone face down.

For when you’ve gotten out of bed because sleep wasn’t coming. Do it sitting up in another room, in dim light, never lying in bed. Sit in a chair rather than lying on the couch, so that when sleepiness comes, you take it back to bed. Use it to spend the time awake more easily, not to make sleep come. Go back to bed when you feel sleepy, whether that’s before the end or after it. If you’re still alert when it ends, stay up and do something quiet until sleepiness comes. Use a small light so you can move around safely.

Narration

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1. Getting up when sleep won’t come is part of the plan. Sit somewhere comfortable, in low light, and set the phone face down if you can.
2. Let your feet rest on the floor and your hands in your lap. Close your eyes, or rest them on something dim and still.
3. Notice what it’s like to be awake at this hour. The quiet, the temperature of the room, the feel of the chair.
4. Feel the breath going in and out. There’s no need to slow it down. Let it be as it is.
5. At night, thoughts can come fast. Tomorrow, sleep, anything at all. None of them needs an answer right now.
6. When a thought shows up, see if you can notice it as a thought, something passing through, like a car going by outside. Then come back to the breath.
7. If there’s frustration or worry about being awake, notice where it sits in your body. The chest, the jaw, the stomach. Let it be there without pushing it away.
8. Sleep doesn’t come from effort, so for now, set that job down. This time is for sitting, nothing more.
9. Rest your attention on the breath, or on the sounds of the house. Each time your mind wanders, come back without making a big deal of it.
10. Check in with your eyes and your head. Heavy eyelids, yawning, or a head that wants to nod are signs of sleepiness. Feeling worn out but alert is something different.
11. If sleepiness is here, you don’t need to finish. Go back to bed now. If it isn’t, keep sitting with the breath.
12. Let thoughts come and go. Listen to the sounds around you, and feel the breath and the weight of your body in the chair.
13. Check again for sleepiness. Whatever you find is fine. You’re only noticing.
14. If you’re sleepy, head back to bed now, keeping the lights low on the way. If you’re not, stay up a while longer with something quiet, like a book, a puzzle, or soft music.
15. Go back to bed only when you’re sleepy.

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Everyday Insight’s tools are for education and personal reflection. They are not therapy or medical care, and they are not for emergencies. In an emergency, call 911. If you are in crisis in the United States, call or text 988.