Have you spent hours tossing and turning in bed thinking about your to-do list for tomorrow or your body felt too tense to relax and fall asleep?
Breathing exercises are a natural, fast, and effective way to get your mind and body relaxed to help you fall asleep in less than 10 mins.
There are 3 proven breathing exercises that will help you relax, fall asleep, and shift your body to a “rest and digest” response that promotes instant calm.
4-7-8 Breathing Exercise
The first relaxation breathing exercise is the 4-7-8 breath technique. While doing the breathing exercise, make sure to relax your face and the muscles in your body during the practice.
Follow the steps below to practice this technique:
- Get into your bed and lie on your back
- Slowly inhale to a count of 4 seconds
- Hold your breath in your lungs for 7 seconds
- Slowly exhale through your nose for 8 seconds
Repeat the breathing exercise for another 6 rounds or about 3 minutes and you should feel the instant calm wash over your body, slow down your heart rate, and help you drift off to sleep.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
The 2nd breathing exercise is diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is a muscle that helps the lungs breathe. To promote relaxation to the mind and body, focus on your abdomen while you breathe.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, follow these steps:
- Lie down on your back, place your right hand on your chest, and the left hand on your abdomen
- Focus your left hand on your abdomen to rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale, and imagine your abdomen filling up on the inhale like a balloon and deflate on the exhale. Try to keep your right hand still on the chest.
- Practice this exercise with a slow 4-second count inhale and a 4 count second exhale through the nose
- Continue for 10 rounds
With this practice, we are focusing on using the diaphragm to breathe instead of our chest. This will help to signal to our body that we are cool, calm, and collected, and ready to wind down for the day. Do this technique at least once per day when you want to calm your body.
4 – 8 Relaxation Breathing
Another relaxation breathing practice is a 4-8 count technique to ease your mind and body into rest.
To practice, follow the simple steps below:
- Sit up on your bed, with an upright spine and relax your shoulders or lay in a comfortable position in your bed
- Breathe to a count of 4 seconds through your nose slowly
- Then exhale slowly through your mouth releasing the air out like you’re blowing through a straw with an 8 count exhale
- Continue this pattern of breathing for 10 rounds
This practice will quickly make you fall asleep. Here’s a bonus tip: as you exhale, make a “whooshing” sound like the sound of a crashing wave in the ocean to bring your attention to your breath to help you calm the mind for a peaceful night’s rest.
Use these three breathing exercises before bed to wind down after a long stressful day and can help you fall asleep faster. You can also practice these safe, natural, and easy techniques when you want to shift your body into a state of calm and relaxation.
Which breathing exercise will you try? Let me know in the comments below!
Try this 5 Minute Beginner Meditation with Breathwork Exercises to help you fall asleep!
