We have all experienced the stark difference between experiencing sleep difficulties and waking up tired and sleeping like a log.
Trouble sleeping can leave you tired, irritable and unable to concentrate, leaving you reaching for coffee or sugar to get yourself going. After a good night’s sleep, on the other hand, you feel rested, sharp and ready to take on the day.
But there is more to sleep than meets the eye. Just like healthy diet and exercising, having a good night’s sleep is incredibly important, not only for your health and well-being but also for a strong immune system.
Sleep difficulties are often caused by our inability to switch off the mind and relax our bodies. This is where your breathing can help. Controlling your breathing pattern, which is called Conscious Breathing, offers the easiest and highly effective relaxation techniques you can practice.
Before diving deeper into the benefits of Conscious Breathing as relaxation techniques, let’s make sure that we address sleep hygiene as an essential part of reversing trouble sleeping. It is a set of habits and environmental factors that can help you fall asleep with ease.
The easiest sleep hygiene steps you can take include
- Having a routine: Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
- Wind down: Set aside time before bed for relaxation techniques, which can include meditation, yoga or gentle stretching.
- Limit or avoid using electronic devices before bed: Blue light they emit affects your sleep.
Breathing as relaxation techniques:
Slow, controlled breath triggers the body’s natural relaxation response by activating Parasympathetic nervous system. Your heart rate slows, your muscles relax and your mind calms down, making you physically and mentally prepared to fall asleep easily.
So, rather than organising a list of things to do for next day or perhaps mulling over the events of the day, why not turn your attention to soothing rhythm of your breathing instead and let yourself drift into a sound sleep.
Here is a breathing exercise for you to try. This exercise is one of the easiest and fast acting relaxation techniques to banish sleep difficulties.
6 breaths per minute exercise
This is ideal to calm over-thinking and swirling mind.
Slow breath at 0.1 Hz, or 6 breaths per minute, is the most effective breathing exercise in initiating sleep as well as facilitating falling back asleep. It is simply Inhaling and Exhaling for total of 10 seconds, 6 times in a minute.
There are different ways to achieve 6 breaths per minute, but this is one of the best loved by my clients. You can practice this sitting up or lying down. Let’s practice together.
- Find a comfortable position.
- Breathing through the nose and counting mentally, Inhale for four seconds and Exhale for 6 seconds.
- Inhale … 2 …. 3 …. 4.
- Exhale … 2 …. 3 …. 4 …. 5 …. 6.
- Continue until fully relaxed or naturally fall asleep.
