Yoga Breathing Promotes Sleep and Relaxation
A Simple Technique Induces Natural Calming
Jun 11, 2009
“The single most effective relaxation technique I know is conscious regulation of breath,” says Andrew Weil, M.D., physician, author, and student of many forms of holistic medicine. “By simply putting your attention on your breathing, without even doing anything to change it, you move in the direction of relaxation.”
The Technique
This yogic breathing technique can be practiced anywhere, at any time, although Weil suggests doing no more than four breaths at a time, up to twice a day, for the first month of practice. Then gradually work up to as many as eight breaths as often as needed.
Weil suggests sitting, with the back straight and the tongue placed against the ridge of tissue just behind the upper front teeth. Keep the tongue in place for the entire exercise.
The Exercise
- Exhale completely through the mouth, making a whoosh sound
- Close mouth and inhale quietly through the nose to a mental count of four
- Hold the breath for a count of seven
- Exhale completely through the mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight
- This cycle completes one breath. For the first month of practice, Weil suggests doing no more than four of these breaths at a time.
The Results
If it is difficult to hold the breath for seven, speed up the count for all steps, but always maintain the ratio of 4:7:8. With more experience, the count can be slowed and the breath held for a longer time.
This exercise may cause a feeling of lightheadedness at first. That is normal, Weil says, and will pass.
“You may also notice an immediate shift in consciousness after four of these breaths, a feeling of detachment or lightness or dreaminess, for example,” Weil says. “That shift is desirable and will increase with repetition. It is a sign that you are affecting your involuntary nervous system and neutralizing stress.”
Tongue Placement
Weil explains that yoga philosophy describes two “nerve currents” in the human body.
- One is positive, electric, and solar
- One is negative, magnetic, and lunar
These currents begin and end at the tip of the tongue and the ridge behind the upper front teeth. Contacting these points is said to complete a circuit, keeping energy within the breath instead of allowing it to evaporate.
“I don’t know if there is any correlation between these ideas and Western concepts of physiology,” Weil says, “but since yogis have been doing this exercise for thousands of years, it seems worth following their instructions exactly.”
Uses for the Technique
- Use when anything upsetting happens, before taking action
- Use whenever internal tension rises
- Use it to fall asleep
This simple technique can be used by anyone, anywhere to promote relaxation, and can be an effective lead-in to meditation practice, which can be as simple as counting breaths.
In today’s fast-paced environment, natural means of promoting relaxation anywhere, at anytime, are invaluable to good health, both physically and mentally.
Since breathing is one of the easiest things to control, this technique is worth a try the next time stress threatens to overwhelm or sleep will not come.
Source: Natural Health, Natural Medicine: A Comprehensive Manual for Wellness and Self-Care, by Andrew Weil, M.D., Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995, “Relaxation, Rest, and Sleep.”
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