Just one simple trick can improve your sleep?

In the dead of night, when you lie in bed, do you often feel tossing and turning and having trouble falling asleep? Perhaps you have never thought that this is inextricably linked to your breathing method. Today, I want to share with you a simple and effective way to improve sleep - abdominal breathing, which can help you get high-quality sleep.

The Secret of Breathing: Transformation from Chest to Abdomen

Medically, human breathing is divided into thoracic breathing and abdominal breathing. Most people use thoracic breathing in their daily lives, which mainly relies on the contraction of the intercostal muscles to drive the thorax, and then the lungs to breathe. The characteristics of this breathing method are that the chest cavity rises and falls significantly, while the abdomen is almost motionless. Abdominal breathing, on the other hand, is mainly based on the up and down movement of the diaphragm, supplemented by the movement of the intercostal muscles, and the belly rises and falls significantly when breathing.

The emergence of chest breathing is closely related to human evolution. When facing danger, the human body will instinctively change the speed and method of breathing, activate the reserve respiratory muscles to increase the breathing volume and rate, and deliver more oxygen to the muscles in order to escape from danger. However, if you are in this high-pressure state for a long time, it is extremely harmful to the body.

Disadvantages of chest breathing: health risks under high pressure

1. Excessive secretion of stress hormones

Long-term high pressure will lead to excessive secretion of the stress hormone cortisol. Excessive cortisol is not only closely related to lack of sleep, anxiety, etc., but may also cause a series of health problems.

2. Small ventilation volume, the body is prone to hypoxia

The amount of air exchanged each time with chest breathing is very small. Insufficient ventilation at a normal breathing rate can easily cause carbon dioxide to accumulate in the body, leading to brain hypoxia and symptoms of dizziness and fatigue.

3. Tight and sore shoulders and neck

If the brain senses that the body is chronically hypoxic, it will command the shoulder and neck muscles to lift up and exert force to assist breathing. At this time, our shoulders and necks are prone to tension and soreness, and even other muscle groups will undergo compensatory changes.

4. Increased inflammatory substances

When you are under stress, your body also releases more inflammatory chemicals, such as histamine. High histamine levels not only cause itchy skin, but can also trigger other inflammatory diseases.

The magic of abdominal breathing: easily improve sleep and mood

Compared to chest breathing, abdominal breathing is a healthier and more natural way of breathing. It can bring the body back to the calm part of the nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, and shut down the sympathetic nervous response responsible for "fight or flight."

Consciously changing chest breathing to abdominal breathing can bring the following benefits:

1. Improve the autonomic nervous system's response to stress, improve arterial blood flow, sleep quality, etc.;

2. Reduce the production of stress hormones and relieve anxiety;

3. Improve lung capacity, oxygen absorption and supply efficiency;

4. Based on the above, it helps to enhance immune function.

For people with insomnia, abdominal breathing exercises before going to bed are particularly suitable. Relaxing all muscle groups in the body, focusing on the stomach, and feeling the rise and fall of the stomach during abdominal breathing can help eliminate other mental interference, relax active nerves, and thus fall asleep faster.

How to do abdominal breathing?

So, how do you do abdominal breathing? Here are some basic steps:

Inhale and your belly bulges:
• Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen (just below your ribs).

• Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose to lift and expand your abdomen, feeling the diaphragm press down.

Exhale and flatten your belly:

• Exhale through your mouth, tighten your muscles (feel the abdominal wall sinking) to force the air out. Repeat this exercise, try to breathe evenly, and carefully feel the rise and fall of your abdomen. Once you are familiar with it, you can free your hands and practice it anytime, anywhere.

Advanced abdominal breathing exercises

If you have mastered the basic version of abdominal breathing, you can also try the advanced version - the "square box" abdominal breathing exercise. This exercise is performed when you are under great pressure and helps calm your nerves and improve your concentration.

Step 1: Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose (your lower abdomen expands), imagine that there is a square box in your mind, and count slowly from 1 to 4 along the left side of the box upwards.

Step 2: Hold your breath, keep your lungs full, and slowly count from 1 to 4 along the upper edge of the box from left to right.

Step 3: Exhale slowly and deeply through your mouth, counting from 1 to 4 along the right side of the box from top to bottom.

Step 4: Hold your breath, keep your lungs empty, and slowly count from 1 to 4 along the bottom edge of the box from right to left.

Repeat the above steps 3 times, or practice for 5 minutes each time.

Finally, to sum up, breathing is an activity we do every moment, but many people may not realize that changing the way we breathe can bring so many health benefits. Abdominal breathing can not only improve sleep quality, but also relax tense nerves and enhance cardiopulmonary function. I hope everyone can consciously cultivate the habit of abdominal breathing and enjoy the health benefits it brings.