Yes, you can meditate lying down. Meditation teachers treat it as a genuine posture, not a lesser one: Insight Meditation Center’s posture guide opens with the line “We can meditate sitting, standing, walking or lying down.” Lying on your back suits body scan practice, days when sitting hurts, and meditating in bed. The one real trade-off is sleepiness. Lying down is the position your body links with sleep, so it is easier to drift off. Bend your knees, keep your eyes slightly open, and choose a time when you are not exhausted, and you can stay present.
This guide is part of our series on meditation seating. For every posture, from cross-legged to kneeling, start with our pillar guide to how to sit for meditation. If you would rather stay upright, see our guides to meditating in a chair and to zafu and zabuton cushions.
Quick Answer: When to Lie Down and When to Sit
| Situation | Lie down? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting is painful or not possible | Yes | Insight Meditation Center offers lying down as the alternative for people unable to sit |
| Body scan practice | Yes, often | The body scan can be done lying down, sitting or in other postures |
| Meditating in bed at night | Yes, if you are happy to fall asleep | Drifting off is fine when rest is the goal |
| Meditating in bed in the morning | Maybe | Sitting up against the headboard can help you stay awake |
| You want to train alert attention | Sit if you can | Sitting is described as conducive to staying alert and relaxed |
| You are very tired | Sit, or open your eyes | Lying down with closed eyes makes sleep more likely |
Can You Really Meditate Lying Down?
Yes. The teaching sources we checked all include it. Insight Meditation Center focuses its instructions on sitting, which it calls “the most common position for formal practice, as it’s conducive to staying alert and relaxed,” and then adds: “For those unable to sit, you may use the alternate option of lying down.” The same guide gives lying down its own section with practical tips for staying awake, which we cover below.
Lying down is also a standard position for the body scan. The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, in its body scan practice guide, says “The body scan can be performed while lying down, sitting, or in other postures.” And Mindful.org’s guide to meditating in bed notes: “You can meditate in bed while sitting, lying on your back, or resting on your side.”
What changes when you lie down is not whether it counts as meditation but how easy it is to stay awake. Sitting upright gives you a little built-in alertness. Lying flat takes that away, so you replace it with a few simple adjustments.
Lying-Down Meditation Postures
There are two main ways to lie for meditation. Both are done on your back, on a mat, a carpet, or a firm bed.
Flat on your back (savasana or corpse pose)
This is the resting pose from yoga, known as savasana or corpse pose: lie on your back with your legs extended and slightly apart, and your arms resting a little away from your sides with the palms facing up or down. A thin pillow under your head is fine if your neck feels strained. It is the most relaxing option, which is also why it is the easiest one to fall asleep in.
If flat lying bothers your back, Insight Meditation Center suggests a simple fix: “If your knees are not bent you might place a pillow under your knees to take the stress off the low back.” A rolled blanket works just as well.
Knees up (constructive rest)
The second option keeps your knees bent and your feet on the floor. In some body-work traditions this is called constructive rest. Insight Meditation Center describes it as a way to stay alert: “Place your feet comfortably apart on the floor with the knees up, the knees not touching. If you fall asleep, the knees will bump each other or fall away and wake you up.”
This is a good default for a lying-down sit. Your lower back can settle, and your legs give you gentle feedback if you start to doze.
Lying on your side
Side lying is mostly a bedtime position. It is comfortable and familiar, which makes it a fine choice for a meditation you are happy to fall asleep during. For a practice you want to stay awake for, the back is usually the better choice, because it feels less like settling in for the night.
How to Meditate Lying Down, Step by Step
- Choose your surface. A mat or rug on the floor is less sleep-inducing than your bed. Use the bed when that is what is available or when sleep is the aim.
- Pick your leg position. Legs straight with a pillow under your knees, or knees bent with your feet on the floor and apart.
- Place your arms. Let them rest by your sides, or try one of the alertness tricks below.
- Decide about your eyes. Closed eyes are more relaxing. If you tend to drift, keep them slightly open and resting on a point on the ceiling. The Soto Zen school’s zazen instructions warn, about sitting practice, that “If your eyes are closed, you will easily drift into drowsiness or daydreaming,” and lying down only adds to that pull.
- Choose an anchor. Rest your attention on the breath at the belly, or on the sensation of your body touching the floor.
- Set a length and a timer. Start with a short session and lengthen it as staying alert gets easier. A gentle timer means you do not have to watch the clock.
- Come back when you drift. Your mind will wander. When you notice it has, return to your anchor. That noticing is the practice.
- Get up slowly. Roll onto your side first and pause before sitting up.
Body Scan: The Classic Lying-Down Practice
If you want one practice made for lying down, it is the body scan. You move your attention slowly through the body, region by region, noticing whatever sensations are there without trying to change them.
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The body scan is closely associated with Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. The Greater Good Science Center puts it this way: “Body Scan is one of the practices included in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).” It describes MBSR as “Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and based on Buddhist teachings,” taught over weekly sessions with homework.
A simple version you can do on your back:
- Settle into your lying posture and take a few slow breaths.
- Bring your attention to the toes of one foot. Notice warmth, coolness, tingling, pressure, or no sensation at all.
- Move up through the foot, ankle, calf, knee and thigh, then repeat on the other leg.
- Continue through the hips, belly, chest, back, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and face.
- Finish by sensing the whole body lying there, breathing.
For a full guided version, follow our 15-minute body scan meditation script. Free recorded body scans are also offered by UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, including a short body scan and a body scan for sleep.
The Sleepiness Trade-Off
Falling asleep is the most common problem with lying-down meditation. It is not a failure, but it does mean the practice has ended. If you want to stay awake, Insight Meditation Center’s lying-down section lists several feedback tricks that work without any equipment:
- Knees up. As quoted above, if you nod off, “the knees will bump each other or fall away and wake you up.”
- Raised forearm. “Keep one of your forearms perpendicular to the floor, with your elbow and upper arm resting on the floor. If you get sleepy, it will drop.”
- Thumbs touching. Hold your hands in a mudra with the thumbs touching. The guide explains that “when you are beginning to lose consciousness and drift off, the thumbs will pull apart and that will wake you up to bring you back to your meditation.”
A few other habits help too: practice on the floor instead of the bed, keep the room a little brighter, open your eyes slightly, and avoid lying-down practice right after a large meal or late at night if staying alert is your goal. If none of that works, the simplest fix is to sit up.
How to Meditate in Bed
Meditating in bed is one of the most searched versions of this question, and the answer depends on the time of day.
At night: it is fine to fall asleep
At bedtime, drifting off partway through is not a problem. Many people use a body scan or slow breath awareness as part of winding down. Lie on your back or your side, dim the lights, put your phone away, and let the practice be as long or as short as it turns out to be.
Be measured about what to expect. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says: “Mindfulness meditation practices may help reduce insomnia and improve sleep quality.” It also notes that in the analysis it cites, “the effects of mindfulness meditation approaches on sleep quality were no different than those of evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise.” In other words, it may help, but it is not a cure for a sleep problem. Our meditation for sleep guide walks through a full bedtime practice.
In the morning, or any time you want to stay awake
If you want a real meditation session in bed, not a route into sleep, sit up instead of lying flat. Prop yourself against the headboard with a pillow behind your lower back, or sit cross-legged on top of the covers. If you do lie down, use the knees-up position and keep your eyes slightly open.
When Sitting Is the Better Choice
Lying down is a valid way to meditate, but it is not always the best one. Consider sitting when:
- You keep falling asleep, even with the tricks above.
- You are practicing concentration and want the alertness that an upright spine gives you.
- You are building a regular daily habit and want it to feel distinct from resting.
- You are tired. Sitting, or even walking meditation, can be more realistic than lying down.
Many people find a mix works well: sitting for most sessions, lying down for body scans, for bedtime, or on days when sitting is uncomfortable. If floor sitting is the obstacle, a kneeling meditation bench or an ordinary chair can be a middle ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is meditating lying down as good as sitting?
It is a different balance. Insight Meditation Center calls sitting the most common position because it is conducive to staying alert and relaxed, and offers lying down for people who cannot sit. Lying down tends to be more relaxing and more likely to lead to sleep. Choose based on your body and on what you want from the session.
Is it okay to fall asleep while meditating?
Yes, especially at night. You simply stop meditating when you fall asleep. If you want to stay awake, use the knees-up position, a raised forearm or touching thumbs, or sit up.
Should my eyes be open or closed when lying down?
Either works. Closed eyes are more relaxing; slightly open eyes resting on one spot help you stay awake.
Can I meditate lying down if I have back pain?
Many people find lying on their back with a pillow under the knees, or with the knees bent, more comfortable than sitting. Back pain has many causes, though, so ask a doctor or physical therapist what is suitable for you.
Where to Go Next
Lying down is one option in a full set of meditation postures. For the overview, read how to sit for meditation. If you want to try sitting up, our meditation chair guide is the easiest place to start, the meditation cushion guide explains zafu and zabuton heights, and the meditation bench guide compares kneeling benches. To put your lying-down posture to use, try the 15-minute body scan or our meditation for sleep.
This article is general information about meditation posture, not medical advice. Meditation and mindfulness practices “usually are considered to have few risks,” according to the NCCIH, which also advises: “Don’t use meditation or mindfulness to replace conventional care or as a reason to postpone seeing a health care provider about a medical problem.” If you have a sleep disorder, ongoing pain, or a history of trauma, check with a qualified professional before relying on lying-down or bedtime practice.