If you do not want to be one of the 60 million Americans who have difficulties falling asleep, here are six simple and easy breathing techniques to improve the quality of your sleep.
Have you ever noticed when you want to fall asleep and try not to think about something, that same thing stays in your mind all night disturbing your sleep?
It is because whatever we resist persists. The more effort not to think about that ex-boyfriend or that hot fudge chocolate cake, the more you will think about it. The more you try not to think about something, the more difficult it becomes.
The secret is to bring your awareness into the present moment. The mind spends most of the time vacillating between the past and the future. We either regret what we could have done yesterday or are anxious about what could happen tomorrow.
This constant swinging back and forth is what is causing much stress in our nervous system and keeping us up all night. When we are with all our attention in the present moment, our mind calms down, making it much easier to fall asleep.
What can we do to bring our awareness back into the present moment in order to have a good night’s sleep when all the mind wants to do is think about that thing that happened earlier and that meeting we have tomorrow.
The link between the body and mind is the breath. The breath is the secret to keep us in the present moment.Our first act of life is taking a breath in, and our last act of life is a breath out. And everything in between is what we call life. The breath is the connecting link between the intimate world of sleep and the outer world of action.
When you learn how to work with your breath, you learn to control your mind and thoughts. And the more you work with your breath, the more you will see how it affects the mind.
Here are six simple breathing techniques to improve the quality of your sleep.
1.Alternate Nostril Breathing Technique
How to do Alternate Nostril Breathing
- Sit comfortably and easily with your back straight and your spine erect.
- Keep your eyes closed and your face, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
- Place your left hand on your lap with your palm facing upward.
- Use your right hand to open and close your nostrils.
- Rest your middle and index finger lightly in between your eyebrows
- Take a deep inhalation through both nostrils.
- Using your thumb close your right nostril, exhale through your left nostril
- Inhale through your left nostril.
- Using your ring finger close your left nostril, release the right nostril, and exhale through your right nostril.
- Inhale through your right nostril.
- With your thumb close your right nostril, release the right nostril, and exhale through the left nostril.
Do this for about three to five minutes or nine full breaths. One full breath equals in left, out right, in right, out left.
Do not hold your breath. Do not force the breath—the same speed you breathe in, the same speed you breath out. Observe the in and outflow of your breath focusing all your attention on your nostrils. Keep your body still and allow the breath to find its natural rhythm.
Alternate nostril breathing technique soothes anxiety and fears and is excellent for inducing sleep.
2.Shitali Breathing Technique
How to do the Shitali Breath
- Sit comfortably and easily with your back straight and your spine erect.
- Keep your eyes closed and your face, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
- Place your hands on your lap with your palms facing upward.
- Curl your tongue into a tube with the tip of your tongue sticking out of your mouth.
- Take a long deep breath in through your mouth.
- Close your mouth, relax your tongue, and slowly exhale through the nose.
- Make sure your exhale is longer than your inhale.
- Do not hold your breath.
Do this for about one to two minutes. The number of breaths varies per person depending upon every individual’s natural rhythm.
Shitali breathing technique is very calming to the mind and an excellent source for improving the quality of your sleep.
3.Humming Bee Breathing Technique
How to do the humming bee breathing technique or Bhramari Pranayama
- Sit comfortably and easily with your back straight and your spine erect.
- Keep your eyes closed and your face, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
- Observe the sensations in your body.
- Place your index fingers on your ears.
- Take a long and deep breath in and as you breathe out, gently press your ears while making a loud humming bee sound.
- Breath in again and repeat this for aproximately five times.
Bhramari pranayama is one of the best breathing exercises to calm the mind instantly and release frustration, anxiety, and improve the quality of your sleep
4.Straw Breathing Technique
How to do the Straw Breathing Technique
- Sit comfortably and easily with your back straight and your spine erect.
- Keep your eyes closed and your face, shoulders, and neck relaxed.
- If you have a normal size straw take a deep inhalation through your nose and then place the straw in your mouth and exhale slowly through the straw. Making sure you exhale all the breath out, but be gentle; do not force the breath.
- If you don’t have the straw, you can make an imaginary straw with your lips and imagine you are holding a straw in your mouth. Inhale slowly, and exhale gently through your imaginary straw.
- Once again, inhale through your nose, then exhale through your imaginary straw in your mouth.
- If you would like to use some counts, you can inhale for the count of four and exhale for the count of six to eight, making your exhalation longer than your inhalation.
Do this practice for about five minutes.
The straw breathing technique quickly reduces anxiety while increasing the feelings of calmness and relaxation which will help you to improve the quality of your sleep.
This technique is quite simple, and in only five minutes, you will start to notice a difference. Your mind will be more calm and relaxed.
5.Blow Candles Breathing Technique
How to do the Blow Candles Breathing Technique
- Sit easily and comfortably with your back straight and your spine erect.
- Keep your eyes closed and your face, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
- You can place your right hand on top of your chest and your left hand on the bottom of the rib cage.
- Take a normal deep breath in through your nose.
- Press your lips together as if you were blowing out a candle and slowly breathe out, empty out your lungs as much as you can.
- When your lungs are empty, close your lips and hold your breath for a count of one.
- Take another normal breath in through your nose.
- Press your lips together as if you were blowing out a candle and slowly breathe out, empty out your lungs as much as you can.
This blowing candle breathing technique is a simple and easy technique to calm your mind. You can do it for about five minutes. If it feels uncomfortable, gently return to your normal breathing. And the next time, do it a bit longer.
6.Abdominal Breathing Technique
How to do the Abdominal Breathing Technique:
You can practice this breathing technique while lying down on your back, sitting straight, or standing up.
- If you are lying down. Separate your legs slightly, letting your feet fall to the sides.
- Interlock the fingers and place your hands on your abdomen, palms facing downwards.
- Take a long and deep inhalation, expanding your abdomen.
- Allow your tummy to rise as much as possible.
- As you begin to exhale, gentle press your stomach with your hands, pushing it downwards.
- Exhale thoroughly. Both the inhale and exhale should be long and deep.
Repeat this process a couple of times. If you feel you are a pro and you’ve got this, you can do abdominal breathing without using your hands.
Summary
So the six simple and easy breathing techniques to improve the quality of your sleep are:
- Alternate Nostril Breathing technique
- Shitali Breathing Technique
- Humming Bee Breathing Technique
- Straw Breathing Technique
- Blow Candles Breathing Technique
- Abdominal Breathing Technique
Consistency is the secret to success. These six breathing techniques are simple and have the potential to improve the quality of your sleep. Experiment with them. Find one technique that you like and practice it every day.
If you want a more profound experience of the secrets of the breath, I highly recommend you learn the Sudarshan Kriya with a certified instructor. It has transformed my life, and I am sure it will do the same for you too.
Additional Resources
- How to do Savasana for a Good Night’s Sleep
- Ayurveda Top 4 Tips for Better Sleep
- Ayurveda Lifestyle & Daily Routines
- How to Create an Evening Routine that Works for You
Please leave us a comment below and let us know which breathing technique you preferred and how it has improved the quality of your sleep.
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