The Beginners Guide To Using Breathwork For Better Sleep

Although while we'd all want to think that we're the kind of people who can meditate their way to better sleep, the truth is that meditation can be challenging. Meditation isn't always a user-friendly experience, even with apps like Calm and Headspace, especially for people who are chronically stressed out or in pain.

Even if you are aware of all the advantages of meditation, let's face it: It is difficult to stop thinking for even a short period of time. And it's particularly difficult if you don't instantly experience any benefits from meditation to have the patience and self-control to do it every day.

Fortunately, there is a beginner-friendly method of practising mindfulness that can assist in calming your nervous system, reducing tension, and improving your ability to fall asleep at night. Here comes breathwork.

What is Breathwork

Dr. Jen Fraboni, PT, DPT — aka @docjenfit on Instagram and the creator of The Mobility Method and The Optimal Body — has some tips on improving sleep.

Read on to see which stretches and exercises to focus on before hitting the hay & learne a ton about the ways our bodies physically react to breathwork.

A lot like meditation, breathwork (sometimes called deep or diaphragmatic breathing) can help reduce stress, control pain, and improve sleep.

But instead of putting a focus on your thoughts, you’re completely focused on your body. And if you’re having a hard time with meditation, focusing on your body can feel a lot more approachable than trying to control your racing mind.

Fraboni says that, during breathwork, your attention is set on the length of your inhales and exhales, the way your rib cage moves, and how your body feels. When done correctly, this activates your parasympathetic system, which helps restore balance to your nervous system.

“Essentially, what we want to do is turn off our ‘on system,’” Fraboni says. “Our on system is that sympathetic system, the state that’s always going, and we can’t really get out of it. It’s kind of a constant, especially in this world.” So, basically, breathwork helps get you out of “flight or fight” and into “rest and digest” mode.

The best part is that this kind of breathing can also be a form of meditation. “It starts to become this internal practice without meaning to,” Fraboni says. “[It] helps to take away that pressure of meditating and allows the body to feel something.”

Getting Started with Breathwork

Pay attention to where your breath is coming from.

It's likely that you've heard that your belly should be used for breathing rather than your chest. Fraboni claims there is more to it though.

Most people believe that diaphragmatic breathing only involves the belly, according to her. The low rib cage must move to the sides, front, and back if we are to maximise diaphragm movement and get the respiratory system functioning.

 

It can be comforting to visualise your complete rib cage growing with each inhalation. You can begin by breathing into your abdomen, but as you inhale more air, consider also breathing into your sides and back.

Perfect your exhale

After you nail down your perfect inhale, you’ll need to start counting the length of your inhales and exhales to make sure your exhale is longer. This is key to activating the parasympathetic system.

Here’s what Fraboni recommends:

• 2 to 4-second inhale
• 2-second hold
• 6, 8, or 10-second exhale (whatever feels comfortable, you don’t need to force it)

During your exhale, she says to pretend that you’re blowing through a straw or breathe through pursed lips. This will help you train yourself to extend your exhale.

Progressing to nasal breathing

Fraboni says that, while it helps to breathe through pursed lips at first, she recommends progressing to nasal breathing as soon as you’re comfortable. She says this prevents you from expelling too much carbon dioxide by breathing through your mouth.

“[Nasal breathing] helps to oxygenate our body, because we need carbon dioxide in our body to interact with hemoglobin to release the oxygen throughout our system,” she says. “So if someone went to sleep, and they have their mouth open all night long, they’ll wake up needing coffee and feeling more groggy, because they just expelled so much carbon dioxide all night long.”

While nasal breathing is definitely important for getting the most out of breathwork, regularly practicing it during breathwork can also help make you more mindful of it throughout the day — even when you’re sleeping.

Make it a daily routine.

Breathwork can easily be incorporated into your bedtime routine.

"You'll notice a difference in how you feel if you give this mindful breathing at least 5 minutes before going to bed. You'll be calm and worn out. then you can fall asleep in any posture your body prefers, says Fraboni.

Do breathing exercises in daily life.

You should notice improvements in your regular breathing if you use these breathing exercises frequently enough.

To make sure you're breathing correctly during the day, Fraboni advises that you check in with yourself periodically. She advises taking breaks throughout the day or even while waiting at a stoplight to check your breathing by placing your hands on your ribs.

It's also important to pay closer attention to whether you're inhaling via your nose or mouth. The more often you find yourself doing things like relaxing, walking, or performing chores while breathing through your mouth, the simpler it will be to teach your brain to do the opposite.

Combine it with mobility exercises

We also wanted to know which mobility exercises to concentrate on before bed as Fraboni is the mobility queen.

"If you add movement before bed, its primary benefit is downregulation... You can instantly help tap into that parasympathetic system, which will then help you rest and get enough sleep, if you can spend 2 to 5 minutes practising this passive, slow stretching and connecting the breath with it, according to the expert.

So, how does that appear? Well, it doesn't appear to be lacrosse balls, noisy massage machines, and quite rigorous stretching. Stay away from anything that could make your body tense up or interfere with downregulation.

Here are Fraboni’s three favorite stretches for before bed:

1. Cat cow

To start, Fraboni recommends a good old cat cow, because it can help sync your breath.

“The first thing you do is cat cow so that [you’re] doing the inhale with the extension, the exhale with the flexion, and you’re getting the breath coordinated,” she says.

2. Open book stretch

After syncing your breath and getting your spine moving, you can move into open book stretch.

Lie on your side with your knees stacked on top of each other and your arms stacked straight out in front of you. As you inhale, reach straight forward with your top arm. As you exhale, raise your arm up and over (like you’re opening up a book).

“The opening stretch with the breath out can be as long as you want. You can hold it for a little [and] make that exhale really, really long,” Fraboni says.

She recommends doing between five and 10 of these per side.

3. Chest opener and breathing with pillow

“One thing that I love is rolling up a pillow and putting that along the head and the spine and just allowing the arms to drape open,” Fraboni explains. She also recommends putting a pillow or rolled up blanket horizontally under your mid back below your shoulder blades.

This is a great place to add breathwork into your routine. As you open up your chest, you can practice your deep belly breaths, focusing on your rib cage expanding and compressing as you inhale and exhale.

Takeaway

If you’ve tried and failed using meditation as a tool for sleep, breathwork courses (aka deep or diaphragmatic breathing) might be the perfect solve for reducing stress, controlling pain, and getting better sleep.

Try incorporating the tips above into your nightly (and daily) routines – and remember: practice makes perfect. In time, you’ll be sleeping like a baby.