Breathwork for Sleep: How to Calm Your Nervous System Before Bed
You are lying in bed. Your body is tired. Your mind will not stop. You replay conversations. You think about tomorrow. You notice you are tense and you try to relax, which only makes you more aware of how not relaxed you are.
This is not an anxiety disorder. This is a nervous system that has not received the signal to power down.
Your autonomic nervous system has two modes. Sympathetic is your activation mode: alert, ready, scanning. Parasympathetic is your rest and recovery mode: calm, slow, safe. Sleep requires your body to shift from one to the other. When that shift does not happen, you lie there awake with a tired body and a wired brain.
Breathwork gives your nervous system the signal it is waiting for. Not by forcing relaxation. By mechanically activating the parasympathetic branch through the way you breathe.
Why Breathing Patterns Affect Sleep
Your breath is the only autonomic function you can consciously control. Heart rate, digestion, pupil dilation: these happen on their own. But breathing sits at the intersection of voluntary and involuntary control. This gives you a direct input into a system that otherwise runs on autopilot.
When you extend your exhale longer than your inhale, you stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the primary pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system. It runs from your brainstem through your neck, chest, and abdomen. When it activates, your heart rate drops, your blood pressure decreases, and your body begins producing signals that say: it is safe to rest now.
This is not a metaphor. It is measurable physiology. Heart rate variability monitors show the shift happening within the first 60 to 90 seconds of extended exhale breathing. You do not need to believe in anything. You just need to breathe in a specific pattern and let your nervous system do what it already knows how to do.
Three Techniques for Better Sleep
I have used all three of these with clients who came to sessions carrying weeks of accumulated tension. The people who struggle with sleep are often the same people who carry everything in their shoulders and jaw. The breath reaches what stretching and hot baths cannot.
1. Extended Exhale Breathing (The Foundation)
This is the simplest and most effective technique for sleep. Inhale for 4 counts through your nose. Exhale for 6 to 8 counts through your nose or gently through pursed lips. The exhale should be slow and steady, not forced.
Why it works: the extended exhale directly stimulates vagal tone. Each long exhale sends a signal through the vagus nerve that slows your heart rate and downregulates your arousal system. After 3 to 5 minutes, most people notice their body getting heavier and their thoughts slowing down.
Start with 4 counts in, 6 counts out. If that feels comfortable after a few cycles, extend the exhale to 7 or 8 counts. Do not strain. The moment you feel like you are running out of air, shorten the count. This should feel like a gentle release, not an effort.
Practice for 5 to 10 minutes lying in bed with your eyes closed. Many people fall asleep before the 10 minutes are up.
2. 4 7 8 Breathing (The Reset)
Inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Hold your breath for 7 counts. Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 counts. Repeat for 4 to 8 cycles.
This technique was popularized by Dr. Andrew Weil, but variations of it exist in yogic breathing traditions going back centuries. The hold phase is what makes it different from simple extended exhale breathing. During the hold, CO2 builds slightly in your bloodstream. This triggers a mild chemoreceptor response that, paradoxically, leads to deeper relaxation on the exhale. Your body interprets the slow controlled exhale after a hold as a safety signal.
The 4 7 8 pattern works best when you have had a particularly stressful day and simple extended exhale breathing does not feel like enough. The breath hold adds a layer of nervous system reset that interrupts racing thoughts more effectively.
Important: if 7 counts feels too long for the hold, reduce it to 4 or 5. The ratio matters more than the exact numbers. Longer exhale than inhale, with a pause in between.
3. Body Scan with Breath (The Deep Release)
Lie on your back with your arms at your sides. Begin with extended exhale breathing (4 in, 6 out). After 2 minutes, start directing your exhale to specific parts of your body.
On each exhale, focus your attention on one area: your jaw, your shoulders, your chest, your stomach, your hips, your legs, your feet. Do not try to relax these areas. Just notice them while you breathe out slowly. Spend 3 to 4 breaths on each area before moving to the next.
This works because tension often lives in specific locations that you stop noticing during the day. Your jaw clenches. Your shoulders creep up. Your belly tightens. By bringing conscious attention to these areas while your nervous system is already shifting toward parasympathetic mode, you give those muscles permission to release.
I use this technique in almost every session I facilitate. The people who carry the most tension often have the biggest response because they finally notice where they have been holding it. In a guided UNTAMED session, this becomes even more powerful because the breathwork builds on movement, grounding, and cold exposure that have already started the release process.
What to Avoid Before Sleep
Breathwork for sleep works best when you are not fighting against other stimulating inputs. A few things that undermine even the best breathing practice:
Screens in the last 30 minutes. Blue light suppresses melatonin production. But the bigger issue is that scrolling keeps your brain in scanning mode: alert, reactive, processing new information. This is the opposite of the signal your nervous system needs.
Stimulating breathwork patterns. Not all breathwork calms you down. Techniques like Wim Hof style hyperventilation, kapalabhati, or breath of fire activate the sympathetic nervous system. These are morning techniques. Doing them before bed is like drinking coffee and wondering why you cannot sleep. If you want to learn the difference between activating and calming patterns, the beginners guide covers both types.
Trying too hard to relax. The moment you turn relaxation into a goal, you create tension. If you catch yourself thinking "why is this not working," that is your mind doing exactly what it does all day: evaluating performance. Let the breath do its job. You do not need to make anything happen.
When to Practice
The best time is the last 10 minutes before you want to fall asleep. Get into bed, turn off the lights, and begin your chosen technique. Do not do it sitting up and then lie down afterward because the transition resets some of what you built.
Consistency matters more than duration. Five minutes every night for a week will change your sleep more than one 20 minute session followed by nothing. Your nervous system learns patterns. After a few nights of the same routine, your body begins anticipating the shift before you even start the breathing.
If you wake in the middle of the night with a racing mind, use extended exhale breathing (technique 1) immediately. Do not check your phone first. Start breathing and let the vagal response carry you back down. Most people find they can return to sleep within 5 to 10 minutes once the technique becomes familiar.
The Difference Between Breathing Alone and Guided Practice
These techniques work on their own. You can start tonight. That is the point of teaching them here.
But there is a difference between using breathwork as a sleep tool and experiencing what your nervous system can actually do when someone who knows the work guides you through a full session. In a guided practice, the breathing patterns go deeper because you are not managing the process yourself. You can let go in a way that is harder to do alone.
If poor sleep is a symptom of a nervous system that has been running in overdrive for months or years, a private workshop gives you space to address that directly. Not with theory. With your breath, your body, and the experience of what it feels like when your system finally lets go.
The home practice is the maintenance. The guided work is the reset.
Start Tonight
Pick one technique. Extended exhale breathing is the best starting point because it requires no counting holds and nothing complicated. Four counts in, six counts out, through your nose, eyes closed, in bed. Five minutes.
Do not evaluate whether it is working. Just breathe and notice what happens. Your nervous system will do the rest.
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About Diego Pauel
I have lived in Koh Samui for 15 years. I discovered breathwork through freediving, which I have trained in for over a decade. When COVID hit and the island emptied out, I started offering breathwork and ice baths for free to help the local community feel better in their bodies. I was the first to offer this work on the island. Five years later, I have facilitated countless sessions for people from all over the world. No guru energy. No mystical language. Just the work.
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