The OutSPOKEn Cyclist
By Diane Jenks
We have all experienced periods of insomnia and most of us have either gotten through them or learned ways to foil them.
This month, the AARP bulletin has a piece about sleep, exploring anxiety, age and other triggers that can lead to sleeplessness. They offer simple “tricks,” such as moving your clock, so you are unable to check the time from bed or adding a weighted blanket, which seems to lower heart rate. There are therapists who work with patients with chronic insomnia and a host of other remedies.
But, one thing that is not mentioned is breath work and its profound effect on relieving anxiety and helping to induce calm, which in turn leads to slower heart rates, which in turn leads to the ability to peacefully fall and stay asleep.
James Nestor, whose New York Times bestseller, “BREATH,” explores a lot of techniques for learning to both control and alter your breathing, which then can lead to improvements in everything from sinus issues to weight control.
Used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by yogis in India, all yoga teachers are taught breathing techniques for a variety of aspects of our practices.
In my yoga practice, I emphasize “yogic” breathing with everything we do from beginning to end, incorporating the use of the breath at both the start and finish of practice as well as to ease into and out of postures.
Let me explain the “yogic breath.” Unlike an “athletic” breath, where you breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth — the yogic breath is both in AND out through the nose.
Here is one simple technique to learn and use:
Sit in a comfortable position, either in a chair or on a mat on the floor.
Place one hand lightly on your chest and the other hand on your belly. With your eyes closed, inhale through your nose and allow the hand on your belly to rise. Continue to inhale, pulling your breath up into your chest so the upper hand rises (it won’t move as much as the lower one.)
Now, begin your exhale, also through your nose, reversing the flow, allowing the upper hand to gently fall first, emptying the breath at the belly last and pulling your navel toward your back.
Think of your breath as an unbroken circle. Repeat it a few times to get the hang of it.
Now, you can turn that yogic breathing into a few focused methods to help induce calm and sleep.
One, called two-to-one breathing, is to simply choose a number — I usually suggest starting with seven — and slowly inhale — counting to that number. Then, slowly and deliberately, begin your exhale, counting to double that number – in this case, 14.
Next, inhale and count to six; exhale counting to 12 and continue down to one – inhaling long and slow and without counting, letting that last breath out as slowly as you can.
Allow your breathing to come back to normal, and if you use a heart rate monitor — or some wearable that tracks heart rate, take a look at the results. OR, maybe you’ve already fallen asleep!
Once you’ve learned to use the yogic breath, you will find yourself remembering to adopt it in other circumstances; controlling anger, thinking more clearly, and helping with discomfort and pain, both of which often come from stress and anxiety.
The goal is, of course, to be able to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed and ready for a new day.
Namaste!
Photo courtesy pexels.com
