Your nighttime rest suffers from shallow respiration that disrupts your ability to get into sleeping state and remain in it. The condition has the potential to create snoring sounds together with being an indicator for sleep apnea diagnosis where patients experience nocturnal breathing interruptions.
Allergies together with asthma and anxiety trigger shallow nighttime breathing. It is possible to manage stress alongside anxiety through breathing exercises if breathing shallowly is caused by anxiety. People can use breathing exercises as activities which enhance respiratory capacity and stop stress and anxiety effects.
The relaxation response a person experiences through breathing exercises will reduce the difficulty in both falling asleep and staying asleep. Abdominal breathing and deep breathing comprise two methods of diaphragmatic breathing together with belly and diaphragmatic breathing techniques.
Slow breathing methods produce diverse advantages for both mental and physical well-being which lead to better sleep duration and quality according to research findings.1
Seven self-performed breathing exercises are available to support your body’s relaxation response which will help improve your sleeping ability.
Abdominal Breathing
Abdominal breathing refers to deep breathing into the abdomen rather than shallow breathing in the chest. These steps will direct your breathing process from the diaphragm.
- Position yourself on the floor with your legs unfolded and feet spread slightly while keeping your palms upward and closed eyes.
- For the exercise begin with your feet turned out and both arms resting next to your sides while your palms face upwards and maintain closed eyes.
- Position your stomach hand on top of your chest hand as you maintain your relaxed position on the floor.
- You should observe your abdomen rising higher than your chest during the inhalation phase.
When chest expansion from your inhalations mostly affects the hand positioned on your chest you should work on filling your stomach lungs (bottom) before reaching your upper respiratory system. When you perform breathing exercises use the rise of your abdomen as a sign to increase inhalation. Over time, this gets easier.
Inhalations should always start at your nose followed by mouth exhalations during this exercise. You should maintain relaxed facial muscles throughout this exercise. To verify slow breaths count your inhales and exhales while breathing. Direct your attention to listen to your breathing sounds.
Sustain this type of breath for 5 or 10 minutes of regular duration. Regular deep breath sessions should occur once daily.
When you master deep abdominal breathing you should use the technique to counteract anxiety or tension episodes.
The breathing technique aids in slowing body functions which cause anxiety and tension so you can fall asleep more easily. Deep breathing helps you lower your heart rate and promotes sleep. The practice will eventually aid in overcoming night and shallow breathing and improving your sleep quality.
Repeating a Mantra
A mantra can be added to your abdominal breathing techniques once you become proficient at controlling this breathing method.
Through mantra meditation which uses meditation breathing techniques along with mantras people can enhance their sleeping quality.
The following instructions will guide you through breathing with a mantra added to the process.
- Select either a resting position on your bed or an easy position for relaxation.
- While you inhale deeply to your abdomen you should silently think to yourself Inhale relaxation.
- As you breathe out while emptying your stomach with air you should say the words Exhale tension.
- There should be brief pauses placed before both breath cycles of inhalation and exhalation.
Notice all the body tensions during exhaling and actively release them from your system.
Visualize your body through imagination as it accepts relaxation while releasing tension from every part. Represent these physical body processes as moving air flow between your inner body and the outside world.
Keep practicing this technique for 5 to 10 minutes before sleep feels close.
4-7-8 Breathing Routine
The 4-7-8 breathing exercise functions as another method to help you relax before you sleep. These are the steps that help you perform this breathing method.
- Sit with your back straight.
- You should position your tongue against the roof of your mouth at the spot in front of your upper teeth.
- The end of your breath should leave your mouth as a whooshing sound.
- Begin breath intake through your nose for a four-second duration.
- Breathe into your lungs without sound for a count of seven.
- To complete the breath you should make the same whooshing sound through your mouth while counting to eight before breathing in.
- By finishing this cycle you will have completed one proper breath. Perform the cycle for four breaths in total by returning to it three more times.
Breathe in quietly through your nose while making the nose sound during your exhalations. You should maintain the location of your tongue during the full exercise duration. Keep equal ratios of breathing time between inhaling and holding air and finally exhaling because these times represent the core fundamentals.
You can adjust the time for faster breathing initially unless you comfortably hold your breath for this duration by building up your tolerance over time.
Perform this breathing technique two times daily with limitations of four breaths each session. Practice this breathing schedule for one month with regularity. Conduct the exercise with eight breaths once you gain self-assurance. Hence gradual career progression will help mitigate afternoon breathing interruptions that disrupt sleep.
Body Scan
People use body scan technique among breathing exercises which help them both relax and fall asleep. This method requires you to check your body for tension areas which will let you push past obstacles until you fall asleep.Follow these steps for the procedure.
- Position yourself flat on your bed while you let relaxation take over you during your exhalation.
- The bed supports your body as you observe it beneath while you actively exhale and allow yourself to become relaxed.
- Move your mental focus from your head down along your entire body to spot where tension exists. Moving through your body should involve a smooth exhalation to relax any tense muscle groups.
- When tension searching of your entire body ends you should shift your focus to controlled breathing. Soon after you start exhaling you should repeat a selected mantra which will help you fall asleep such as “sleep” or another chosen word that promotes relaxation.
Implementing this procedure leads to relaxation both of your mind as well as your body. The peaceful state of sleep will take over your consciousness soon after your start this practice.
The medical literature shows that performing body scan exercises consistently helps tackle sleep problems.
Counting While Breathing
Take a more effective approach than counting sheep because breathing counts work better. A method which involves counting number of breaths can serve as an effective technique to speed up your sleeping process. Use the following instructions to achieve improved nighttime resting through breath counting.
- Walk toward bed while performing deep breaths followed by attempts at relaxation.
- Your bed will provide support while your body relaxes through natural breath exhalation.
- Follow these counting instances starting from one through ten then reverse back from ten through one while you exhale breaths.
- Following this pattern will lead you to a state of sleep.
This breathing-counting method has multiple different ways of implementation. A counting technique which begins at 99 and moves backward can be used to achieve sleeping success. Test which routine works best for you then practice it until sleepiness sets in.
When you learn to count your breathing during relaxation it results in deep breaths while preventing small nighttime breaths.
Breathing Imagery
Breath rhythm provides an effective method for achieving sleep.
Rutgers. Sleep inducing techniques.
The next series of actions enables you to use this relaxation strategy before bed.
- Spread out in your bed while you put your attention on relaxation which happens when you exhale breath.
- Succumb to bed rest until you reach a relaxed state as you breathe out.
- When your relaxation increases you should concentrate on your breath exhales and observe the sensations. As you relax the sensations may include sinking into the bed followed by a slowing of time and heaviness together with the possibility of feeling more patient.
- While you reach a relaxed state begin to visualize the breath taking the form of colors. Observe your respiration and match the colors you see with your breath’s motion. Experience the scenario without imposing boundaries or mental constraints while your mind shows you what emerges from the moment.
- Maintain your attention only on the breath until you achieve sleep.
With its ability to bring relaxation imaging should always be a main component when using breathing techniques to achieve relaxation before going to bed.
Visualization to Release Energy
The process of falling asleep becomes more achievable through exercises which simultaneously relax your body and clear your mind. These exercises serve two functions which help you eliminate your energy build-up while providing your body with sleep-readiness.
The following are steps to implement this procedure.
- You have anxiety and stress inside you which takes the form of colored gas that flows throughout every region of your body.
- During your exhalation the colored gases escape from your entire body structure which leads you to become more relaxed. Your body moves from the bottom up toward your torso as your internal energy turns into a ball before it travels toward expulsion.
- Your head now draws the same energy downwards that falls into the ball of energy within you. All areas now experience inner peace since the departed energy left those spaces.
- At this moment picture your negative energy together with your fear and anxiety stored inside a single ball of energy. Your negative energy should float upward from the top of your head toward space in a sparkling star-like manner.
- Note the relaxed sensation together with calmness coupled with a readiness to go to sleep.
A pleasant visualization should replace your thoughts while you perform breathing exercises. The use of mental images improves your nighttime breathing patterns which leads to simpler fall into sleep.
A Word From Verywell
The next period of sleeplessness try using any of the seven breathing techniques mentioned above to find restful sleep. See a doctor to determine any underlying medical cause of your insomnia or sleep problems even if self-treatment techniques have not produced results.
Sources:
Duke University. Breathing for relaxation.
Doctor Reuter Medical Center. 5 Deep Breathing Techniques to Help Manage Anxiety.
Rutgers. Sleep inducing techniques.
Hubbling A, Reilly-Spong M, Kreitzer MJ, Gross CR. How mindfulness changed my sleep: focus groups with chronic insomnia patients. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014;14:50. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-50
UC Santa Cruz. Energy release visualization for sleep.
