How daily breathwork can improve your sleep quality

By James Wills
October 15, 2021

Sleep is a vital component of our wellbeing and health that allows your body and mind to recharge, leaving you refreshed and alert when you wake up. Sleep also helps the body remain healthy, strengthen your memory and increases your attention. Without enough sleep, the brain cannot function properly.

How much sleep do we need?

National Sleep Foundation guidelines advise that healthy adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Regular sleep can be characterized by how much sleep you actually get (sleep quantity) and how well you sleep (sleep quality).

According to the National Library of Medicine, good sleep quality is characterized by the following characteristics:

You usually take no more than 30 minutes to fall asleep after getting into bed
You usually wake up no more than once per night and have no trouble falling back to sleep again
You’re able to sleep the number of hours recommended for your age group
You feel rested and full of energy upon waking up in the morning
You do not feel sleepy or don’t need to take naps during the day

THE PROFILE:

Name: H.P. (Anonymized)
Age: 41 y.o.
Family status: Married, has two young children (one and a half y.o and seven y.o.)
Occupation: High-level executive at a startup company, producing electronic equipment;
Medical/health conditions: high metabolism
Smoking: Non-smoker
Level of sports activity: at the present moment, no sports activities are being conducted regularly.

H.P. is currently working in a start-up company in Denmark, specializing in producing electronic equipment. He is married and has two small kids. H.P. was regularly experiencing some sleep disturbances. Being interested in gadgets and aiming to improve his quality of sleep, H.P. was trying different apps and devices to track his sleep and eventually has ended up with an Apple watch on his wrist:

“As I am really into gadgets, I’ve been tracking my sleep for a very long time. Now I use the Apple Watch 6 with an O₂ sensor. And I’ve been tracking my sleep with it for at least a year and a half.

We recently started a competition at work, where we are using a device called Airofit to train our breathing. After a few days of starting the competition, where we had to train 7 to 10 minutes a day, I looked at my app, and it said that my sleep quality tonight was 81%. And I was thinking that’s a long time since I’ve been experiencing such a high level of sleep quality”.

The technology behind the Apple Watch measures the quality of sleep while looking at:

how much awake time did you have;
how much REM sleep did you have;
how much light sleep did you have;
how much deep sleep did you have.

So it measures these four elements, and it also looks at what percentage of the total amount of sleeping you have been into different stages.

H.P. hasn’t been in a healthy place sleep-wise for around a year and a half since his last daughter was born. And already on the second day of training with Airofit, he noticed that the metrics of his Apple Watch sleep quality were abnormally high.

“As you can see my average daily quality of sleep ranking was always above 75%, except one day when I actually forgot to train. On that day, my sleep quality actually was down to 70%, which is lower than on all the other days when I was training with Airofit.

Before I started training with Airofit, my average score on a good day was maybe in the seventies. On a normal average day, It would be around 45%-55%.”

Benefits of breathing: Improved sleep quality

A daily conscious breath practice has been associated with lower rates of stress, depression, and anxiety, along with overall improvement in mental health. It also helps promote proper blood flow, triggering the release of toxins from the body. All of these benefits, plus many others combined, help you achieve better sleep patterns, increase your energy level and help you feel like a better version of yourself:

“I feel that in a very short time, training with Airofit helped me to get my sleep better. With 7 to 10 minutes of training with the Airofit every day I think it’s helping me get into the relaxation mode before I go to bed. And I also enjoy the meditation process where I don’t think about anything else than following the instructions.

And there is a lot of evidence showing that breathing works. That you can improve your sleeping patterns by doing breathwork. Is it the Airofit Device or the App, or the time for myself that helps me? I don’t know for sure. There can be different assumptions, but I definitely see a very good result and I would not have done it without the Airofit.”

Benefits of breathing: Stress management & mental health

By increasing your awareness of your own breathing, you can reduce muscle tension and manage the stress-related symptoms more smoothly. Many people find it helpful to practice breath training to relieve themselves from states of anxiety and stress by practicing intentional calming breathing. As you learn to be aware of your breathing and simultaneously breathe calmly, your mind will quiet and your body will relax.

“As I am working in a fast-paced environment where I need to multitask a lot and be flexible to all the changes and challenges, stress is, unfortunately, a big part of it. What I’ve noticed recently is that due to better sleep during the nighttime, it is becoming easier for me to tackle stress-related situations during the daytime. It’s also easier for me to make quick decisions as I have more mental energy and a better focus. All in all, I can say that I am definitely a better version of myself at work.”

Airofit journey:

Currently, H.P. is going through the general wellbeing Module of the Airofit app. He is on day 16 out of the 28- day program. He is training with Airofit for 7-10 minutes a day, mainly in the evening.

“I would say being part of the breathing competition at work as well as seeing my progress both on the Airofit app and Apple Watch motivates me to continue doing my breath-work training. I also plan to continue my breathing training after the competition finishes, as now I am also motivated by the results that I see in regards to my sleep and overall well-being.”

How you can improve sleep quality by using Airofit:

By dedicating time to your breathing practice and utilizing the Airofit training app’s preset revitalization and relaxation-based modules, you will begin to breathe fully and deeply, triggering a natural relaxation response.

When you slow down and focus on the simple act of breathing, you can begin establishing a habit of activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System (otherwise known as the command centre for the rest and digest cycles). Your heart rate slows, your blood pressure lowers as the blood vessels relax, and your body reaches a state of calm and relaxation.

The modules in the Airofit Pro app have been designed by many of the top thought leaders from the science of breathing and have taken care to provide the best breath training for your specific needs.
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of health and wellness, and with the help of Airofit and the Training App, you can start your journey into better breathing and get back to a natural rhythm, increase your energy and help yourself be more balanced.

If you want to learn more about the breathing benefits for sleep, read more here.
Underneath you can check out Airofit PRO – the breathing training device that was used in H.P’s sleep improvement journey so you can start yours now, too!

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