By David Hennessy, Clinical Psychologist, Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, QLD
Audio Player
This guided relaxation is intended for people who can get to sleep but wake during the night and find it difficult to settle again. The recording invites you to reduce effort, soften physical tension, and return attention to a calm and simple focus rather than getting drawn into clock-watching, problem-solving, or frustration.
The pacing is slow and steady. You are encouraged to notice the body, allow the breath to settle naturally, and let passing thoughts come and go without needing to engage with them. The emphasis is on returning to a state of quiet rest rather than trying to force sleep.
Even if sleep does not return immediately, the practice can still be useful as a way of reducing arousal and interrupting the cycle of wakefulness, tension, and mental effort that often keeps people awake in the middle of the night.
This recording is provided for educational and general wellbeing purposes. It is not a substitute for personalised psychological assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. It may be a helpful adjunct for people working on sleep maintenance difficulties, particularly as part of a broader CBT-I informed approach, but it is not intended to replace individual clinical care.
Please use this audio only when it is safe to do so. Do not listen while driving, operating machinery, or in any situation where you need to remain fully alert. If you have severe insomnia, trauma-related night waking, panic symptoms, untreated sleep apnoea, seizures, or any other health concern that may affect your sleep or safety, consider obtaining individual advice from an appropriately qualified health professional.
This guided relaxation is designed to support a return to rest after waking in the night. In CBT-I informed work, the aim is generally to reduce arousal and drop the struggle with wakefulness, rather than trying to make sleep happen through force or pressure.