Top 3 breathing exercises for better sleep and stress relief

Benefits of practising breathing exercises daily

There are a lot of proven health benefits of regular breathing exercises.

I list the most important ones right away to show how useful it can be to learn some very basic techniques and use them regularly and consistently on a daily basis:

lower heart rate

reduced stress and anxiety

ease depression

distraction from chronic pain

lower blood pressure

improved diabetic symptoms

Learning life-changing methods to help ourselves

I was first introduced to breathing techniques when I attended a yoga class in the late 90’s. All I was looking for the whole class is to lie down after the last exercise for group relaxation :-)! I’ve fallen in love with conscious breathing right away! 

Later on, in my mid 20’s I turned for help for a psychologist with depression and mild anxiety. This was a really difficult period in my life and I craved for anything that support me in being better, living better. I’ll be forever thankful for having the strength to open up to a stranger about my problems.

The psychologist I attended taught me about autogenetic training and made me practise this relaxation method during sessions. This turned out to be a superb help to soothing and calming myself. With his guidance I learned the method and was told to practise it at home in the evenings, too. 

Be opened to try more than one solution

However, sometimes my mind was so distracted and troubled, that even autogenetic training easy instructions were hard for me to follow without live guidance. What I did:

whenever it was difficult for me to concentrate on autogenetic relaxation steps, I switched to practising one of the breathing techniques I’ve learnt in my yoga class.

I encourage you too to help yourself in any way you can, so if one solution does not work or does not resonate with you, be opened to try another exercise, another method etc.

You have nothing to lose. If you give time to one technique and you don’t get the result you wished for, try another one and you might save time for yourself by finding your best suitable solution sooner.

Top 3 breathing techniques: might serve you for a lifetime

I’m not saying breathing techniques serve only well those having depression and anxiety. They can actually be of huge benefits for those who would like to live healthier or simply sleep better every day.

You don’t need a whole arsenal of breathing techniques /but if you are interested, feel free to explore the topic in detail :-)/. 

I’m sure most people can profit from using the 2-3 easiest and most memorisable breathing exercises and add years to their lives by practising them regularly.

This is why I list the top 3 techniques I found very useful in helping me falling asleep easier or just simply calming me down in difficult moments:

Top 3 breathing exercises 

to support you improving your habits and help you cope with stress better:

Nr. 1. The 4-7-8 breathing exercise?

This is the ‘relaxation breathing’ method:

It works great for falling asleep and super effective for reducing stress or anxiety. 

1. Close your mouth and breathe in quietly through your nose for a count of 4.
2. Hold your breath for a count of7.
3. Exhale completely through your mouth slowly, making a ’whoosh’ sound to a count of 8.
4. Inhale again and repeat the same cycle 3 or 4 more times or more, depending on how you feel.

Nr. 2. The double exhale technique (3-6 breathing)

All you need to do is DOUBLE the exhale:

Double the length of the exale for calming, soothing yourself just before entering deep, peaceful sleep:

1. Lie on your back.

2. Inhale through your nose for 3 seconds
3. Exhale out your mouth for 6 seconds
4. Repeat this cycle until falling asleep

Nr. 3. Box Breathing

This is a breathing technique that is commonly and frequently used for relaxation before falling sleep.

1. Sit with your back in a straight position, at first breath in normally.
2. Exhale and attempt to breathe out all of the air in your lungs.
3. Inhale through your nose while counting to 4.
4. Hold your breath for 4 seconds.
5. Breathe out slowly through your mouth and again attempt to exhale all of the air in your lungs.
6. Repeat inhaling, holding breath and exhaling as long as you wish.

Add affirmations to your practice

Soothing and calming “I am” affirmations add up greatly to breathing practice. While inhaling, you can say to yourself the first part of a supporting sleep mantra and when you exhale you focus on the other half.Like:

• I inhale peace (when breathing in) – I exhale release (breathing out)

or

• I allow myself to calm down now (when breathing in) – I let go of all that does not serve my wellbeing (breathing out).

Last but not least:

The power of kind self talk is huge, so give it try!

There are a lot of cute and nice self-affirmations to support you mindfully.

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Wishing you you better sleep and mindful life,

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