Other causes of shallow breathing at night can include allergies, asthma, or anxiety. If shallow breathing is caused by anxiety, breathing exercises might be helpful for reducing stress and anxiety. Breathing exercises are activities that can improve respiratory function and reduce anxiety and stress. Breathing exercises can help induce a relaxation response, which can make it easier to fall and stay asleep. Diaphragmatic breathing, belly breathing, deep breathing, and abdominal breathing are a few examples. The following seven breathing exercises can all be done easily on your own to help encourage your body and mind to relax and make sleep easier. As you breathe, be sure to inhale through your nose and then exhale through your mouth. Keep your face relaxed as you do this. Breathe in and out while counting to make sure that you are breathing slowly. Relax and focus on the sound of your breath. Continue breathing like this for a period of time such as 5 or 10 minutes. Practice this type of breathing regularly, such as once a day. This type of breathing is useful in that it helps to slow down the various functions in your body that can keep you tense and anxious. Allowing yourself to deep breathe will slow your heart rate and make it easier to drift off to sleep. Over time, this strategy can help you combat shallow breathing and night and improve sleep. Follow the steps below to add in a mantra while you breathe. Be sure to pause before you exhale and before you inhale. As you exhale, become aware of any tension in your body and let it go. You can even use your imagination to picture your body accepting relaxation and letting go of tension. Picture these experiences as visual events such as air moving in and out of your body. Continue doing this for 5 to 10 minutes until you start to feel sleepy. It’s important to note that when you breathe like this, you should inhale quietly but exhale while making a nose. Keep your tongue in the same spot throughout the whole exercise. Make sure that you maintain the ratio of time for inhale/holding/exhale as this is what is most important. Practice breathing like this twice a day (again, only do four breaths at a time). Do this consistently for one month. As you grow more confident you can extend to eight breaths. Working your way up gradually can help reduce the shallow breathing at night that interferes with sleep. Follow this technique and you should find both your mind and body start to relax. Before you know it, you will be drifting off to sleep! There are many variations on this counting breaths theme. For example, you could count backward from 99 to help you fall asleep. See what works best for you and practice it until you feel sleepy. To practice this technique, follow the steps below.
