Did you know that one in three Britons suffer from poor sleep? Regular poor sleep puts us at risk of serious medical conditions including obesity, heart disease and diabetes as well as shortening your life expectancy.
However, Dr Weil, the founder of the Arizona Centre for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, claims that just a simple alteration to normal breathing could be the answer to all our sleeping problems. The trick is holding your breath for four seconds, breathing out then holding your breath for seven seconds. After that, exhale completely for a count of eight. If you do this between two and four times. Dr Weil says this works because it allows the lungs to become fully charged with air, allowing more oxygen into the body, promoting a sense of calm.
“This comes from yoga and in yoga breathing you have to keep the tip of the tongue behind the upper front teeth. You breathe in through your nose quietly and blow air out forcefully through your mouth making a whoosh sound. It takes all of about 30 seconds so there is no excuse for not doing it. It produces a very pleasant altered state of consciousness. You may not get that the first time you do it but it’s one of the benefits of practicing…you have to do this two times a day religiously. It will become a wonderful way to help you fall asleep. You can do it more often throughout the day…after about four to six weeks you will see wonderful changes in your body”. This technique is also said to deal with tension and even stop cravings. Check out the video below to see how it’s done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going for a nap.
Holly Martin
I used to have trouble sleeping and found that daily meditation before bed helped a great deal and was quite easy to learn 🙂 I also found that taking reishi tea every day helped me relax and feel less stress which can contribute to finding it hard to relax.
“Reishi mushrooms have been traditionally recommended by Chinese and Japanese herbalists for insomnia due to their “sleep-promoting factor”.(1) Long-term use causes a significant promotion of slow wave sleep1. Reishi mushrooms are prescribed in China for a number of psychiatric and neurological afflictions, including diseases involving the muscles, anorexia, and debility following lengthy illnesses”
http://vitalherbs.co.uk/