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Wind down for bed11 min

Body scan meditation for sleep

A free 11-minute guided body scan for the nights you lie awake. Keep the lights low, press play and follow the voice from your forehead to your feet.

Voice: Aussie Baritone (synthetic)

First time? Lie down or sit back. Headphones are optional, and it's fine if you drift off.

Best for
Lying in bed for a while without falling asleep
When to use it
In bed, lights low, in the position you usually sleep in. Wind down for sleep with guided deep rest. You can fall asleep during it: it ends in silence and a slow fade, so nothing at the end wakes you.
What you'll hear
  1. 0:00Settle into the position you usually sleep in, on your side if you like
  2. 0:28Three slow breaths through the nose, with no counting
  3. 1:46A slow body scan from the forehead to the feet: the face and jaw, the neck, each arm and hand, the chest and belly, the hips, each leg and foot
  4. 5:32Heavy and warm: the weight of the hands, arms and legs, and any warmth in the palms
  5. 7:08A sparse drift, with very few words
  6. 9:30About a minute and a half of silence, then a slow fade. Nothing at the end to wake you

How the session runs

The recording runs about 11 minutes. It opens with half a minute to settle and three slow breaths, then a body scan of about three and a half minutes from the forehead to the feet. After that come a couple of minutes of heaviness and warmth, a couple of minutes of drift with long silences, and about a minute and a half of silence before a slow fade. It ends in silence, so it will not wake you.

How to use a body scan for sleep

  1. Get the room ready. Lights low, phone on do not disturb, volume low.
  2. Lie the way you usually sleep. On your back or on your side is fine. Pull the covers to wherever you like them.
  3. Press play and follow without trying. Let your attention go where the voice goes. You don't need to try to relax.
  4. If you're still awake at the end. That's normal. Lie still in the dark, or play it once more rather than picking up your phone.

If a warm room keeps you awake, see the best bedroom temperature for sleep.

What is a body scan meditation?

In a body scan you move your attention slowly through the body, one part at a time, and notice what is there without trying to change it. It is one of the practices in mindfulness-based stress reduction, the programme developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Source: Greater Good in Action, UC Berkeley: Body Scan Meditation (checked 3 Nov 2026)

Yoga nidra is the older yoga practice of guided, lying-down rest. NSDR is a close modern relative with less traditional language. For yoga nidra sessions at bedtime, see yoga nidra for sleep.

What the research says

For sleep, the evidence is early. Small trials of yoga nidra, the older practice NSDR grew out of, mostly report better sleep measures, but a 2026 meta-analysis rated the certainty of that evidence very low. None of the four NSDR trials tested a bedtime session, and NSDR does not replace sleep. Sources: Dutta et al. (2026), meta-analysis; Singh et al. (2026)

Those studies looked at yoga nidra. They are not evidence about body scans or about this recording.

If you lie awake most nights, a session like this is not the answer on its own. For ongoing sleep problems, CBT-I (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia) is the recommended first treatment. Ask your GP. Source: Qaseem et al. (2016), American College of Physicians guideline

Questions

Does a body scan help you fall asleep?

Wind down for sleep with guided deep rest. For sleep, the evidence is early. Small trials of yoga nidra, the older practice NSDR grew out of, mostly report better sleep measures, but a 2026 meta-analysis rated the certainty of that evidence very low. None of the four NSDR trials tested a bedtime session, and NSDR does not replace sleep.

What if I fall asleep halfway through?

That's fine. The session ends in silence and a slow fade, so nothing at the end wakes you.

How long should a body scan for sleep be?

There is no tested right length. This one runs about 11 minutes, and the sleep shelf has shorter and longer sessions.

All sleep sessions

What is the difference between a body scan and progressive muscle relaxation?

A body scan only notices each part of the body. Progressive muscle relaxation tenses each muscle group on purpose, then lets it go.

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