Last Updated: January 02, 2023, 18:21 IST
During stress, people breathe using the muscles of the neck and chest, taking shallow breaths.
Breathing exercises are a simple way to manage stress, feel more relaxed and help you put to bed in deep sleep.
When it comes to sleep, quantity and quality both matter a lot. Good sleep for about 6-8 hours is required for our body to recover from the day’s fatigue and keep our organs healthy, eventually improving our longevity. Insomnia and trouble falling or staying asleep are very common. Breathing exercises are a simple way to manage stress, feel more relaxed and help you put to bed in deep sleep.
According to sleepfoundation.org, breathing exercises may also improve the body’s production of melatonin which helps put a person to sleep.
Some of the breathing techniques that can help put the person to sleep are:
Belly breathing: Also known as diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing, the exercise helps you breathe in a slow and relaxed manner. During stress, people breathe using the muscles of the neck and chest, taking shallow breaths. Belly breathing helps you relax in the exact opposite manner.
To perform belly breathing, sit or lie down in a comfortable position with one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Take a deep breath through your nose and breathe in with your belly. The hand on your belly will rise. Breathe out slowly ensuring that your hand on the belly falls slowly. Repeat the process.
Box breathing: This technique combines breathing exercises with a visualisation where you have to breathe according to the measurements of the lengths of the 4 sides of an imaginary box. To perform this exercise, start after an exhale, inhale slowly and count to 4 as you do it. Hold your breath for another count of 4 and then slowly exhale while counting to 4. After exhaling, hold your breath again for a count of 4. Repeat the process.
Bhramari Pranayama: This yogic exercise involves a person covering their eyes and ears while producing a humming or a buzzing sound. TO perform Bhramari Pranayama, sit in a comfortable position and place your thumbs over your ears to block all ambient noise. Place your index fingers above your eyebrows and cover your eyes with the remaining three fingers of each hand without removing your thumbs from the ears. Inhale deeply and slowly and exhale slowly through the nose while making a humming or buzzing sound. Repeat it multiple times to relax.
These breathing exercises can help you go to sleep faster and for a longer time without you waking up repeatedly.
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