Sleep
Guided relaxation to wind down before sleep
A guided evening programme for winding down through breathing, muscle relaxation and imagery. It offers a quiet routine to explore, without promising sleep or treating insomnia.
- What you practise
- Paced breathing, muscle relaxation and evening imagery.
- Session length
- Sessions from 3 to 15 minutes
- How it is personalised
- AI selects and sequences prepared sessions using your mood, goals and feedback. It does not generate the session content.
Listen to the guided intro
A Pause Before Bed
Tired body, but your mind is still wide awake?
You feel tired until your head reaches the pillow. Then the unfinished conversations arrive, along with the calculation of how much night is left. Rest can start to feel like another task.
A guided evening pause gives you something gentle to try. Sleep difficulties have different causes, which this programme cannot identify or treat.
What it feels like
You might recognise yourself here: lying awake while your partner breathes peacefully beside you. A mind replaying the day's conversations at two in the morning. The particular dread of watching 3:17 become 3:42. Waking up exhausted no matter how many hours you slept.
Poor sleep isn't a minor inconvenience. It colours everything: your patience, your clarity, your capacity for kindness. And the frustration of not sleeping becomes a source of anxiety in its own right, creating a cycle that willpower alone can't break.
What you practise
Follow spoken guidance to notice your body, breathe comfortably and explore a quiet image. Choose a supported position and adjust the practice to what feels manageable.
The session can be part of an evening routine. Falling asleep during it, or sleeping through the night afterwards, is not a promised outcome.
This programme is for you if...
- Your mind races the moment your head hits the pillow.
- You wake at three in the morning and can't fall back asleep.
- You feel exhausted yet paradoxically too wired to rest.
- You've tried melatonin, sleep apps, and white noise without any lasting result.
- You want a guided pause to explore in your evening.
Try it now
A pause to explore
This is an introductory exercise, not a therapeutic dose. Choose a safe place, never while driving or in water. Keep breathing comfortable and skip any hold or count that does not suit you. Stop if uncomfortable or dizzy and return to normal breathing.
- Choose a comfortable, supported position somewhere safe to pause.
- Notice contact with the seat or floor. Let your shoulders rest without needing to change how you feel.
- Breathe in gently for four counts if comfortable, or keep your natural rhythm.
- You can pause briefly, up to four counts, only if comfortable. You can also breathe straight out without holding.
- Breathe out gently for 6 counts if comfortable, without forcing the lungs empty. Return to normal breathing whenever you wish.
- Let breathing return to its natural rhythm. Finish without trying to make sleep happen.
Common questions
Start this programme
Guided sessions from 3 to 15 minutes, at a pace that fits your day.
New to sophrology? Read the complete guide
Soa is a complementary wellbeing practice. It doesn’t replace medical treatment or psychotherapy.