Did you know that up to 30% of adults suffer from sleep disorders? Quality sleep is essential for wellbeing, recovery and overall health. This World Sleep Day, we want to highlight the crucial role breathing plays in sleep quality.
Breathing Is Your Sleep's Superpower
Breathing regulates the activity of the nervous system. Calm and controlled breathing helps the body and mind relax, making it easier to fall asleep. Prolonged stress and shallow breathing, on the other hand, can lead to insomnia and restless sleep.
Daily short breathing exercises with the WellO2 device activate the parasympathetic nervous system and calm both heart rate and mind. Falling asleep becomes easier, night-time awakenings decrease, and sleep gets deeper. Breathing exercises can also boost daytime energy levels and improve concentration, as the body learns to relax naturally before bedtime.
Shallow Breathing May Stand Behind Insomnia
Difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings during the night are everyday realities for many people. In the UK, approximately one in three adults suffer from insomnia symptoms each week.
According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, a non-profit American hospital and medical research centre, prolonged sleep difficulties are often linked to various breathing problems.
Breathing affects the oxygen supply to all our tissues and the state of the autonomic nervous system. Many of us have unconsciously adopted a breathing pattern where breathing is rapid, high in the chest and heavily reliant on accessory breathing muscles. This type of breathing signals to the brain with every breath that the body is preparing to flee – in other words, that we are in danger.
Daily short breathing exercises with WellO2 activate the parasympathetic nervous system, restoring balance to both body and mind while calming the heart rate. As a result, sleep becomes deeper and more restorative. WellO2 training has been shown to reduce breathing interruptions and snoring, and regular use may even eliminate both completely.
Sleep Apnoea and Breathing Exercises
In the UK, it is estimated that over 8 million adults suffer from sleep apnoea, with around 6.5 million of them being undiagnosed. Repeated breathing interruptions during the night can significantly weaken sleep quality. Even if a person is not always aware of the problem, the effects often appear as daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and mood changes.
The good news is that breathing exercises and upper airway muscle training can support the management of sleep apnoea and improve sleep quality. Steam-assisted breathing training may provide significant benefits for sleep apnoea patients. According to recent research, regular use of WellO2 improves objectively measured sleep structure and reduces night-time disturbances in people with mild to moderate sleep apnoea.
Read more: WellO2 and Sleep Quality – Breathe Your Way to Better Sleep
