One needs to unwind the mind and the body, so the autonomic nervous system is quieted down and the production of stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, decrease. The fundamentals for any bedtime routine are consistent. And since most mindful movement and yoga poses are done with some form of slow breathing in this range, “putting two and two together, it makes sense,” he says.Īnd as Khalsa adds, there’s no reason to wait for double-blind studies. “Anything that slows down the breathing rate will help with decreasing arousal,” he says. Slow, mindful breathing at around 3–6 breaths per minute-normal is 15–20-could be effective for falling asleep. It used a particular breathing pattern: inhaling for 4 counts, holding for 16, and exhaling for 2, but Khalsa says that he can make a larger recommendation. Khalsa has researched how meditative breathing can help with sleep, insomnia specifically, and he found that it increased sleep time and decreased wake time.

Harvard Medical School sleep and circadian health expert, professor Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, notes that experimental trials have also shown meditative breathing can be a powerful sleep aid. Many studies have linked yoga with better sleep. Here’s one more approach to consider: mindful movement. We try anything in order to settle down and let go of the day, from cups of tea to writing in a journal. Bills, chores, work, technology, and now a global pandemic all conspire to keep our brains constantly on, when sleep needs the opposite. We can only assume that number has gone up. Before the pandemic, 25% of Americans suffered from acute insomnia every year, according to a 2018 study from the University of Pennsylvania.

Yoga stretches