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Good sleep matters. It plays a vital role in both your mental and physical wellbeing, lowering the risk of long-term health issues and reducing stress. However, many people struggle with falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night. Fortunately, there are breathing techniques that can help improve sleep quality and promote relaxation. In this blog we’ll share our three most favourite techniques for better sleep.

Breathing Techniques to Try

Deep breathing exercises signal to the mind and body that it's time to calm down and relax. Practicing deep breathing exercises before bed can help you to sleep better. Here are three ideas for you to try:

Belly Breathing: Also known as diaphragmatic breathing, this technique is hugely beneficial to your overall wellbeing as it helps to fill your lungs more efficiently. As you are breathing try to relax your muscles instead of engaging them. You may find it helpful to place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach to help you to focus on keeping your upper body still and instead allowing your stomach to expand as you breathe in down towards your belly and diaphragm.

• Breathe in through your nose while counting to five slowly.
• Slowly exhale through pursed lips for a count of five seconds.
• Repeat this in and out cycle a further nine times.

478 Breathing: If you feel like your mind is racing, this exercise is a great technique to settle your anxiety. It is based on pranayama breathing used in yoga practice. If you feel lightheaded at all, stop the exercise. As you practice this more you will find that you can increase the number of repetitions.

• Breathe in through your nose while counting to four slowly.
• Hold your breath while counting slowly to seven.
• Exhale forcefully through the mouth, pursing the lips and making a “whoosh” sound, for a count of eight.
• Repeat this in, hold and out cycle a further three times.

Alternate Nostril Breathing: This technique is a great way to improve your heart and lung function. Many of us habitually breath through our mouths and this technique is great for activating the nasal passageway. Try to make the in and out breaths smooth and of equal length for a count of around 4 seconds.

• Start by inhaling through both nostrils.
• Place your right hand on your nose as if you are going to pinch it.
• Exhale completely through your nose and then use your right thumb to gently close your right nostril.
• Breathe in through your left nostril and then close the left nostril with your fingers.
• Open the right nostril and exhale through this side.
• Breathe in through the right nostril and then close this nostril.
• Open the left nostril and exhale through the left side to complete the first cycle.
• Repeat this breathing in again through your left nostril, closing it and breathing out on the other side a further seven times.

All of the above exercises are available on Kindspace on your Alexa device. To open Kindspace all you have to say is “Alexa, open Kindspace”, ask for a wellness activity and then go to the Restorative Exercises section where you’ll find our breathing exercises. If you already have Kindspace on your Amazon account you can go straight to the exercise you want by say “Alexa, ask Kindspace for Belly Breathing” for example.

Remember to Take a Holistic Approach

Practicing breathing exercises before bed may not be enough just on their own to improve your quality of sleep. You may want to take a holistic approach and look at other aspects of your wellbeing to see where there might be other things that could be negatively impacting how well you are sleeping. We have lots of tips on Sleep in the Kindspace app, just say “Alexa, ask Kindspace for a sleep tip”, you can go through tips in this category just by saying “same again” when Alexa asks you if you’d like another tip.

Incorporating breathing techniques into your daily routine - not just at bedtime - can improve both your mental and physical health. Breathing exercises have been shown to reduce anxiety and improve overall wellbeing. By taking the time to care for your mind and body, you can give yourself the best chance to wind down easily at night and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.

The tips above are designed to help you to create Kindspaces in your life that promote self-care, so that you feel energised and calm. What is your favourite breathing exercise?