We've all been there: You dutifully drank your magnesium-packed sleepy mocktail, put away your phone early and got to bed on time. It seemed like you were on track, but you woke up in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling until your alarm went off.
What gives?!
If you find yourself wide awake at the night, you don't have to give up and let anxiety take over. With a sleep psychologist-approved breathing trick, you can still salvage plenty of hours of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed rather than drowsy.
Sleep tip of the day: A simple breathing exercise to fall asleep quickly
Just a few deep breaths set to a specific rhythm can be enough to relax you, sleep specialist and psychologist Dr. Michael Breus said on TODAY.
“If you wake up in the middle of the night thinking through how to get calm and relaxed, (this is a) very easy thing to do,” Breus said.
He recommends using the 4-7-8 breathing exercise:
- Start by inhaling for a count of four.
- Then hold your breath for a count of seven.
- Finally, exhale for a count of eight.
This exercise helps lower your heart rate, he explained, making you feel more relaxed and allowing you to drift back to sleep.
Why it matters
Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to all kinds of problems, including heart and kidney conditions, and mental health issues.
While the exact amount of time we need to sleep to feel our best varies, too many of us have trouble falling — and staying — asleep.
Most of us are familiar with sleep onset insomnia, when you have difficulty falling asleep. But fewer people recognize the impact of maintenance insomnia, which specifically causes folks to wake up in the middle of the night, per the Cleveland Clinic. There's also early-waking insomnia, which wakes you up and prevents you from getting back to sleep.
Knowing what to do when you find yourself wide-eyed way before your morning alarm can help you recover some restful hours of sleep that might otherwise have been lost.
How to get started
Next time you wake up before you need to, resist the urge to scroll on your phone and try the 4-7-8 breathing technique, originally developed by Dr. Andrew Weil to help Navy SEALs get to sleep.
And you can use it whenever you need to calm your nerves. “I use this right before I get on stage," Breus said. “This is a great technique you can use all the time whenever you really want to.”
Another exercise for sleep that you can try is coherent breathing, when you slow your breathing down to five breaths a minute.
But keep in mind that if you're consistently struggling to get good quality sleep, it may be time to see a doctor.
TODAY’s Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more.
Monday's tip will reveal the food combination that can help you boost muscle recovery after a workout — check it out at TODAY.com!
