very relaxing and can prepare your body for sleep.
Three-Part Breathing Exercise
To practice the three-part breathing exercise, follow these three stages:
- Take a lengthy, deep inhale.
- Exhale completely while concentrating intently on your body and how it feels.
- After doing this a few times, slow down your exhale to be twice as long as your inhale.
Some individuals prefer this method over others because of its mere simplicity.
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Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise
To do diaphragmatic breathing exercises:
- Lie on your back and either bend your knees over a pillow or sit in a seat.
- Put one hand flat against your chest and the other on your stomach.
- Take slow, deep breaths through your nose, keeping the hand on your chest still as the hand on your stomach rises and falls with your breaths.
- Following, breathe slowly through pursed lips.
- Ultimately, you want to breathe in and out without your chest moving.
This process slows your breathing and decreases your oxygen needs as it supports your diaphragm.
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Alternate Nasal Breathing Exercise
Here are the steps for the alternate nasal or alternate nostril breathing exercise, also called nadi shodhana pranayama:
- Sit with your legs crossed.
- Set your left hand on your knee and your right thumb against your nose.
- Exhale fully and then close the right nostril.
- Inhale through your left nostril.
- Open your right nostril and exhale through it while closing the left.
- Continue this rotation for 5 minutes, finishing by exhaling through your left nostril.
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Conclusion
No matter which type of breathing exercise you choose, the evidence is clear that breathing exercises can help you:
- Relax
- Sleep
- Breathe more intrinsically and effectively
You may find yourself fast asleep before you know it, with many varieties to choose from.