The Yogi Breathing Exercise That Will Put You To Sleep

"I am having trouble sleeping. In one of your posts you said Claudia showed you some yoga breathing exercises that helped you get to sleep right away. Could you do a post on that sometime?


That was in an e-mail for James today.


A year and a half ago there was one night when James could not sleep, he was pacing up and down the stairs, going to his computer and then returning to bed, then repeating the dance.  Needless to say, it was disturbing me! I decided to take action and teach him this exercise.  At that time it worked well for James, he fell asleep and so did I!  

She looks peacefully asleep

I learned the exercise from an extraordinary dance teacher in New York City, Mary Anthony, in 1996. 


Now that I think of it, Mary must have been in touch with yogic techniques, she had routines she did before and after each class that resembled relaxation (just for her) and many of the moves came from yoga. She emphasized focus and getting "out of our minds and into our bodies" and "being present".  She was probably in her 70s at the time.


Much later I realized that what she showed us is also a pranayama which Iyengar mentions in his book [Light on Pranayama], but let us get to it.


Here is the thing about the exercise, if you do it consciously, slowly, paying attention for, say, 20 times, you are pretty much guaranteed to dose off. 


Of course, it is good to have all other conditions leading to sleeping in order (no caffeine, have a sleepy time tea, have a ritual, clean bedroom, nice comfy sheets, brushed teeth, etc)


Preparations


The exercise has you breathing into three different parts of your torso. As a way of preparation and as you read this it might be a good idea to try and identify the parts (mentioned next) so you will be prepared when you are in bed.  Remember to always breathe in and out through the nose. 


The first area is the abdomen.  Try it right now and see if you can breathe in sending air only to this area. Then let it go (meaning breathe out through the nose).  Do not worry too much if you don't think it's perfect. It never is.  It takes practice.


Next see if you can breathe in sending the air to the rib-cage. The ribcage is in the middle of your torso, as a hint think of your mid section expanding towards the back and front and also the sides.  There is no way to get it perfect or wrong.  Just try, it will come.  Breathe out through the nose. Pad yourself in the back for identifying the area and trying.


Finally see if you can breathe in by sending air only to the ceiling of your chest. This will probably come in easy as most of the time people holding stress breathe only from here the top of the torso, the collarbone area.


Once you identify the three areas the exercise can be put together easily.


The Exercise


Lay down comfortably and bend your knees. Place your hands comfortably by your side.  Some people like to put the hands in each part as the air flows through the torso, but that is not the point here, we are actually trying to go to sleep, so that may interfere.


By the time you start to doze off you will know because you will want to straighten the knees.  Having them bent also serves the purpose of helping the back be evenly straight with proper distribution of weight on the bed.


You will breath in and send the air towards abdomen, then stop for one second, then breathe in again and send the air towards the side of the rib-cage, hold for a second, and then breathe in one last time and send the air towards the ceiling of the chest.


You will be filled with air by this time.  Then you will say to yourself: "As you hold, let the mind go, let the mind go".  These three sentences act as a count of three, and help you retain the air and let go of the mind (which is likely the obstruction, isnt' it always?).


Immediately afterwards you will breathe out in three parts as well.  Meaning that you will breathe out with the chest area, hold for one second, breathe out with the ribcage, hold one second, and finally breathe out with the pelvis, then you will rest for one second.  Then start again.


The Script:  Each sentence is a count


Mary, our dance teacher had us go through it by using a drum to reinforce the count. One drum beat per sentence, and she had a hypnotic kind of voice,  this is the actual speech she used, which was very effective, and put James to sleep.  


If you can have someone read or say it to you, then all the better, otherwise practice it until you get the hang of it.  Remember to always breathe in and out through the nose.


Breathe in with the abdomen
to the side of the ribcage
to the ceiling of the chest
as you hold
let the mind go!
let the mind go!
breathe out with the chest
rib-cage
abdomen 
and you rest...

Breathe in with the abdomen

to the side of the ribcage

to the ceiling of the chest

as you hold

let the mind go!

let the mind go!

breathe out with the chest

rib-cage

abdomen 

and you rest

Find your rhythm with it, accommodate to suit your needs, let the breath lead rather than the mind. Do not over think it, just go with it.

Continue on for 18 more times, if you are still awake.