When you are having a hard time sleeping at night, that is never healthy since you will not have energy the next day. It is highly recommended to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day. Of course, going over that is not healthy too as your body will ache. It will also mean you are not too productive if you sleep too much.
Best Breathing Exercise For Sleep:
Breathing Exercises for Insomnia
Insomnia happens to a lot of people and they have a hard time going to sleep. In fact, there are some people who would go through several days without having a second of sleep. The reason for this varies including thinking of something problematic. If you suffer from this disorder, you probably tried a lot of methods already and none of them worked.
Frustration can get the best of you and you can’t blame yourself as you would want to get some rest to prepare yourself for the next day. One great solution would be breathing exercises.
Body Parts Breathing Exercise
This one is the most preferred breathing exercise for sleep because it is pretty simple. There won’t be a need to remember a lot of things for this to be effective. It is basically inhaled then exhale. The only difference is you would focus on how your body is feeling while exhaling. Yes, the different parts of your body need a lot of attention like the arms, legs, and heart.
4-7-8 Breathing Exercise
The numbers on the name of this breathing exercise are the number of seconds involved. First, you are going to inhale through your nose for 4 seconds. After that, you must hold your breath for 7 seconds. The last part would be exhaling in 8 seconds. It is not that hard to remember this method compared to other methods. The important thing is you count the number of seconds in the proper manner.
Papworth Method
This method will require you to sit up straight on the bed. You will inhale and exhale at least four times. When you inhale, it should be through your nose or mouth. However, when you exhale, it should be through your nose. That is certainly the big difference with this breathing exercise for sleep. At the end of the breathing exercise for sleep, the focus should be on the abdomen. You are supposed to observe if the breathing exercise is affecting it.
Believe it or not, this method will help reduce yawning habits. Yawning often can leave a bad impression on the people around you especially if they are talking. They may think you are bored with their company or you are pretty sleepy.
Breathing Techniques for Over-Thinking
At this time we are friendly with digital technology, it’s very common to see now that people going into the bed with a phone or remote in hand. This kind of activity puts the sympathetic branch of your autonomic nervous system in overdrive. As a result, stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol in your blood making it difficult to knock out your overstimulated mind and tense body, and sleeping is a pain.
Breathing Can Solve This Over-thinking:
- Breathe in and out with some second, both through the nose.
- This equals breaths per minute, and research has shown that it is the best rhythm to effectively improve your physiology.
- As a short time result of these triggers, the body will free of adrenaline and cortisol which makes you feel better.
- As a long term result of these triggers, exhalation like a relaxation response.
Buteyko Breathing
The first step would be to breathe in through your nose as comfortable as possible. First, it should be unintentional breathing like you normally do through your nose. After that, do it intentionally for 30 seconds. When the thirty seconds are over, it would be time to close your mouth and pinch your nose. It will only be a matter of time before you feel the need to breathe again.
While your mouth still closed, you can continue breathing except that you do it through your nose. This is going to make you learn how to breathe through your nose and you’ll find out it ain’t too hard.
Breathe Like The Sea!
Breathe like a sea! Really? Yes, take a breathe like the sea is one of the most effective exercises for mind and body. Imagine breathing as like the sound of the water flow of the sea. You can do this exercise sitting or lying in bed.
If you try to breathe on your lenses before cleaning them, with a little noise! Yes, it’s absolutely like a sea sound. Then take a slow, deep and regular breath and make this sound when inhaling and exhaling. If you regularly do this basic technique one time with your mouth open then another time with your mouth closed. You should continue this process minimum of five minutes.
This way of breathing is a bit like breathing during sleep. This calms your mind and your body goes into sleep mode.
Pick Best Breathing Exercise for Sleep
Now that you know some breathing exercises for sleep, you can choose the one you are most comfortable with. Another option would be to try them all out and see which one is the most effective. What’s important is you will finally get some sleep so it won’t matter which breathing exercise for sleep you choose as long as it is effective. When you recognize which one is the most effective, then repeat that one each day so you can get at least 7 hours of sleep.
Wrap-up!
There is a possibility that you will fall asleep and forget about the breathing exercise you just did. That would be alright as it will only be a matter of time before you can find another one that is as effective as the one that you found. Don’t forget to not drink caffeine at night time too. That can prevent you from sleeping at the right time. Also, make sure to drink as much water you can.