Relaxation techniques and meditation for insomnia

In a Nutshell

Common techniques include meditation, hypnotherapy, and yoga¹.
Good sleep hygiene supports relaxation and includes avoiding naps, exercising, limiting caffeine, reducing screen time, and keeping a cool bedroom.¹

Useful resources

If you’ve been struggling with insomnia for a long time, you may start getting nervous or even anxious before getting into bed and this can make it harder to drift off.²
Relaxation techniques are becoming increasingly popular for managing sleep problems.¹ They can help to improve a bad relationship with the bedroom, so you can physically and mentally relax, and fall asleep.³

What are the different relaxation techniques for insomnia?

Let’s take a look at the different types of relaxation techniques for insomnia.

Meditation

Meditation is often promoted as a way to find an inner sense of peace in fast-paced modern life.

It may help you to sleep better, particularly if your insomnia is related to stress, as meditation can create a sense of calmness.⁴

Some research has shown that meditation may help to calm your nervous system by increasing melatonin and serotonin levels, reducing your heart rate and blood pressure, and decreasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol.^5–7 Other research, however, shows it may still not have a significant effect on improving the duration of sleep.⁸

Hypnotherapy

Like meditation, hypnotherapy for insomnia can also help to improve your relationship with sleep.³

Hypnotherapy is a type of therapy that reaches into your mind, hypnotizing you into a state of altered awareness or concentration.^3,9 Your therapist may use images, audio, or they may even speak to you, to help you feel calmer and more relaxed so you can enter hypnosis^2,3,10

Then when you are in hypnosis, you will be more open to new suggestions and this is key because it allows the therapist to help change any negative thoughts, feelings or behaviours surrounding sleep that you may have.^3,9,11

After the session, your therapist may also encourage you to practice self-hypnosis, so you can continue to carry out the relaxation technique at home.¹⁰

Yoga

Yoga is an ancient practice that uses synchronized breathing and movement to initiate inner stillness and awareness of your body, mind, and surroundings.¹²

By focussing on strength, flexibility, and balance, it’s possible that yoga may help manage conditions such as sleep disorders.^12,13

Mindfulness and meditation are integral parts of practicing yoga.¹³ They help you to be in the present moment and focus on the here and now. This may help you to deal with any thoughts or anxieties that contribute to poor quality sleep.² Plus, science shows that mindfulness may help to improve sleep by increasing levels of your sleep hormone, melatonin.¹³

What is good sleep hygiene?

Sleep hygiene is a blend of your sleeping environment and your habits before bedtime. But with busy schedules and long working hours, it can be easy for sleep hygiene to go out the window.

Join us for a fresh conversation about chronic insomnia

Integrating the following sleep hygiene techniques into
your night-time routine may help you to relax and wind down
so you can get a good night’s rest:

Switch screens for music or reading

Try not to watch TV in the place where you sleep or spend the time before you go to sleep endlessly scrolling on your phone. The blue light from electronics can keep your brain awake and unable to fall asleep.²³

Save your bed for sleep

It’s important to only get into bed when you feel you’re ready to nod off because restricting time spent in bed may help to improve some symptoms of insomnia²⁴

Keep your bedroom cool

Your core body temperature decreases as you fall asleep so a bedroom temperature between 19–21°C, which may be cooler than you’re used to, is optimum for sleep.^25,26

Avoid day-time napping

Try to save your sleep time for night-time. Napping in the day may interrupt your sleep drive, making it harder to drift off when it comes to the evening.²⁷

Get some daily movement

Regular exercise can help improve the quality of your sleep.^28,29 Try to exercise earlier in the day as science suggests working out less than 1 hour before bedtime may make it harder to fall asleep.³⁰

Reduce your caffeine intake

You may have heard this many times before, but caffeine from a morning coffee can still be in your system by bedtime.³¹ So, try to switch your post lunchtime pick-me-up for a more hydrating, less stimulating beverage.

Switch screens for music or reading

Save your bed for sleep

It’s important to only get into bed when you feel you’re ready to nod off because restricting time spent in bed may help to improve some symptoms of insomnia²⁴

Keep your bedroom cool

Your core body temperature decreases as you fall asleep so a bedroom temperature between 19–21°C, which may be cooler than you’re used to, is optimum for sleep.^25,26

Avoid day-time napping

Try to save your sleep time for night-time. Napping in the day may interrupt your sleep drive, making it harder to drift off when it comes to the evening.²⁷

Get some daily movement

Reduce your caffeine intake

Benefits and limitations of relaxation techniques for insomnia

Benefits

Practicing relaxation techniques, like mindfulness meditation for insomnia, regularly and consistently, can have a long-lasting positive impact on your sleep⁴
Hypnosis has shown to reduce anxiety,²³ which may help you to physically relax and fall asleep³
Yoga has shown to improve sleep quality, with longer practices having more beneficial effects on sleep¹³

Limitations

It can be difficult to start practicing relaxation techniques if you struggle with creating a relaxing environment
Hypnotherapy for insomnia isn’t easily accessible and can be expensive

Final thoughts on relaxation techniques for insomnia

Relaxation techniques and meditation can help prepare you for sleep by promoting a calm and relaxed environment.¹

But they’re not particularly effective as single therapies for managing chronic insomnia.^2,3,24 Therefore, it’s recommended to combine them with other treatments, like CBT for insomnia.^2,3

Learn more about CBT for insomnia

Would you like to know more about prescription drugs or over-the-counter sleep aids?

Learn more about prescription drugs

Learn more about over-the-counter sleep aids

References

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16. Okamato-Mizuno and Mizuno K. J Physiol Anthropol. 2012; 31(1): 14.
17. Harding EC, et al. Front Neurosci. 2019; 13:336.
18. Ancoli-Israel S and Martin JL. J Clin Sleep Med. 2006; 2(3):333–42.
19. Banno M, et al. Peer J. 2016; 6: e5172.
20. Dolezal BA, et al. Adv Prev Med. 2017: 1364387.
21. Stutz J, et al. Sports Med. 2019; 49(2):269–287.
22. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research.2001. 2, Pharmacology of caffeine. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK223808/.
23. Valentine KE, et al. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2019; 67(3):336–363.
24. Irish LA, et al. Sleep med Rev. 2015; 22:23–36.

EUC-IDS-00086 April 2025