3 Helpful Breathing Exercises For Better Sleep At Night

If you want better sleep, try these 3 breathing exercises to relax your mind and free your body of stress.

In my bestselling book Instant Calm, I explain how sleep is easily one of the most important things in our lives. 

Sleep not only helps us to cope with the stresses of our day-to-day routines. It ensures that we can recover from illness and overcome injuries too.

Getting the right amount of sleep isn’t always easy.

No matter how hard you try to drift off into a peaceful slumber every night, things like anxiety, worry, tension throughout your body – and even a hot mattress – can keep you awake.  Here is an additional resource about it.

Fortunately, there are things that you can do to improve your chances of a good night sleep – including mindful breathing.

Breathing exercises help to …

• calm the nervous system
• stave off feelings of insomnia 
• prep you for better sleep

Here are 3 helpful breathing exercises for better sleep.

1.   Meditative Breathing

If you experience a lot of stress and anxiety in your life, then a period of meditation before bed can be an excellent way to settle your mind and body. (Note: I also offer some breathing exercises in my video course The Anxiety Cure which can further guide your through meditation.)

One of the biggest focus points of meditation is breathing.

• To start meditative breathing, sit down with your back against the wall.Or simply sit up straight.
• Progressively lengthen each breath you take. For instance, when you breathe in the first time, count to one, then next, count to two, then to three, and so on.
• Hold your breath to a count of five on your fifth breath, then start from the beginning.

2.   4-7-8 Breath

The 4-7-8 breathing technique is commonly used in both meditation and yoga for relaxation.

• Start by placing your tongue in your mouth so that the tip is nestled behind your upper front teeth.
• Keep your tongue in place throughout the exercise, then exhale fully with your mouth, making a loud wooshing sound while you do. The sound is important.
• Close your mouth, and inhale using your nose to the count of four and hold the breath that you take to a count of seven.
• Once you’re ready, exhale again, once again making the whoosh sound for a count of eight seconds.

You might not be able to hold your breath to those exact requirements initially. But do your best to get as close as possible. Eventually, you’ll start breathing slowly, and more mindfully.

3. The Diaphragm Breath

When your body or mind is stressed, you breathe faster to take in more air.

You can trick your mind into a state of relaxation simply by using your diaphragm to breathe.

• Be sure to breathe out for longer than you breathe in.
• Inhale for a count of three, then exhale for a count of five or six. You can change the numbers as you go.
• Enhance the power of this breathing by resting your hand on your lower abdomen and your other hand on your chest. Your goal is to feel your body moving as you breathe.

This deep, focused breathing is excellent for taking your mind off the things that might have been causing you to feel stressed or overwhelmed. Additionally, deeper breathing helps to reset your autonomic nervous system.

Breathe Easy and Sleep Easy

Relaxing properly for a good night’s sleep isn’t easy. But you can make the process a lot simpler with some basic breathing techniques. When you start concentrating on your breathing, you’ll soon find that you relax and unwind, thereby putting your mind and body into the perfect state for sleep. Try each of the above techniques and eventually you’ll find one that work best for you.

Develop the super power of calm

Try my 2 minute meditations in Instant Calm