if your mind is racing and you are having difficulty falling asleep, a few minutes of simple but effective breathing exercises can help calm your nervous system on a chemical level and lead to greater success in hitting the sack. the awareness and control of breath has been a central component of yoga, martial arts and taoism for thousands of years. there are dozens of different methods and exercises you can explore through a good teacher or book. the practice of breath control in yoga is called pranayama. i'll detail a simple pranayama exercise here that is particularly effective for falling asleep called alternate nostril breathing (that's "nadi shodana" for the sanskrit posse

alternate nostril breathing is a great way to clear obstructed nostrils, balance the yin and yang energy of the body and focusing the busy mind on the present for a deliberate and calming exercise. when our nostrils are unobstructed, we involuntarily alternate breathing through one or the other about every two hours. breathing through your right nostril stimulates the left side of the brain (intellectual, analytical, rational thought) and prepares the body for physical action (yang energy). breathing through your left nostril stimulates the right side of the brain (creative, emotional thought) and prepares the body for passive mental activity (yin energy). if both nostrils are not clear, breathing will become imbalanced and so will the energy in your body.

when you are feeling restless at bedtime, head outside (weather permitting obviously, but even in wintertime, you can certainly spend a couple minutes on a balcony or porch in brisk air), sit in a comfortable chair and begin the exercise. you will likely have a really hard time focusing your mind on only the breathing exercise. establish a rule that whenever your mind wanders away from the breathing exercise to other random thoughts, you have to start over. with practice, you'll develop the esteemed ability to relax and center -- not just to calm the mind for bed but any time the stresses of life are closing in.

alternate nostril breathing is performed as follows: take one hand up to your face for blocking nostrils. for example, your right thumb will close off your right nostril while your right index or middle finger will close off your left nostril. block off the right nostril and inhale fully (notice how your inhale and exhale will be slower since you are only using one nostril). pause at the completion of your inhale and switch nostrils by using your finger to block the left nostril and releasing your thumb from the right nostril. exhale through the right nostril, inhale through the right nostril, then pause and switch to exhale through the left nostril. thus, you switch nostrils in the middle of the breath cycle. to complete a cycle of 10 breaths, count each inhale/exhale as one. after your complete your breathing session, you can return to bed with a calm brain and hopefully induce a good night's sleep.

如果你的大腦正在拼命轉動讓你很難入眠，那么幾分鐘簡單而有效的呼吸運動會有助于在化學層面上使你的神經系統平靜下來，從而獲得更好的睡眠。有意識的控制呼吸是有幾千年歷史的瑜伽、武術和道教的核心組成部分。你可以從一位出色的老師或者一本好書那里學到幾十種不同的方法和運動。瑜伽的呼吸控制方法被成為pranayama。在此，我將詳細講述一種簡單的pranayama。這種被稱為鼻孔交替呼吸法的呼吸運動對促進睡眠特別有效。

鼻孔交替呼吸法對于疏通鼻孔，平衡陰陽和將精神專注于從容平和的運動有很好的效果。當我們的鼻孔暢通時，我們每兩小時就會不經意地用兩個鼻孔交替呼吸。用右邊鼻孔呼吸會刺激左邊的大腦(控制人的理智和分析能力)，并讓身體做好肉體運動(道家的陽)的準備;用左邊鼻孔呼吸則會刺激右邊大腦(控制人的創造力和情感)，并讓身體做好精神運動(道家的陰)的準備。如果兩個鼻孔堵塞，呼吸就會變得不平衡，身體的能量也就不會平衡。

當你在睡覺時間感到焦躁不安，那么走到戶外(顯然要天氣允許，但即使是在冬天，你也當然可以在空氣清新的陽臺上或者走廊里花上幾分鐘時間)，坐到舒適的椅子上，然后開始練習。你可能很難集中精神專注于呼吸練習，那么建立一個規定，每當精神散漫不能專注于呼吸練習時，你就必須要從頭開始。在不斷的練習下，你將形成在放松和專注之間自由轉換這種讓人敬佩的能力——這不僅有助于睡眠，還可以在任何時候緩解生活中的壓力。

鼻孔交替呼吸法的做法如下：用一只手捏住鼻子。比如，可以用右手的大拇指按住右鼻孔，用右手的食指或中指按住左鼻孔。按住右鼻孔，吸滿一口氣(由于只用一個鼻孔呼吸，所以呼氣和吸氣將會更慢)后停住，用手指按住左鼻孔的同時松開按住右鼻孔的大拇指，用右鼻孔呼氣后再吸氣，然后停住，再換到左鼻孔呼氣。就這樣，在呼吸循環之間交替使用左右鼻孔。一呼一吸為一次，十次為一個循環。在完成呼吸運動后，就可以帶著一個平靜的大腦回到床上睡個好覺。

if your mind is racing and you are having difficulty falling asleep, a few minutes of simple but effective breathing exercises can help calm your nervous system on a chemical level and lead to greater success in hitting the sack. the awareness and control of breath has been a central component of yoga, martial arts and taoism for thousands of years. there are dozens of different methods and exercises you can explore through a good teacher or book. the practice of breath control in yoga is called pranayama. i'll detail a simple pranayama exercise here that is particularly effective for falling asleep called alternate nostril breathing (that's "nadi shodana" for the sanskrit posse

alternate nostril breathing is a great way to clear obstructed nostrils, balance the yin and yang energy of the body and focusing the busy mind on the present for a deliberate and calming exercise. when our nostrils are unobstructed, we involuntarily alternate breathing through one or the other about every two hours. breathing through your right nostril stimulates the left side of the brain (intellectual, analytical, rational thought) and prepares the body for physical action (yang energy). breathing through your left nostril stimulates the right side of the brain (creative, emotional thought) and prepares the body for passive mental activity (yin energy). if both nostrils are not clear, breathing will become imbalanced and so will the energy in your body.

when you are feeling restless at bedtime, head outside (weather permitting obviously, but even in wintertime, you can certainly spend a couple minutes on a balcony or porch in brisk air), sit in a comfortable chair and begin the exercise. you will likely have a really hard time focusing your mind on only the breathing exercise. establish a rule that whenever your mind wanders away from the breathing exercise to other random thoughts, you have to start over. with practice, you'll develop the esteemed ability to relax and center -- not just to calm the mind for bed but any time the stresses of life are closing in.

alternate nostril breathing is performed as follows: take one hand up to your face for blocking nostrils. for example, your right thumb will close off your right nostril while your right index or middle finger will close off your left nostril. block off the right nostril and inhale fully (notice how your inhale and exhale will be slower since you are only using one nostril). pause at the completion of your inhale and switch nostrils by using your finger to block the left nostril and releasing your thumb from the right nostril. exhale through the right nostril, inhale through the right nostril, then pause and switch to exhale through the left nostril. thus, you switch nostrils in the middle of the breath cycle. to complete a cycle of 10 breaths, count each inhale/exhale as one. after your complete your breathing session, you can return to bed with a calm brain and hopefully induce a good night's sleep.

如果你的大腦正在拼命轉動讓你很難入眠，那么幾分鐘簡單而有效的呼吸運動會有助于在化學層面上使你的神經系統平靜下來，從而獲得更好的睡眠。有意識的控制呼吸是有幾千年歷史的瑜伽、武術和道教的核心組成部分。你可以從一位出色的老師或者一本好書那里學到幾十種不同的方法和運動。瑜伽的呼吸控制方法被成為pranayama。在此，我將詳細講述一種簡單的pranayama。這種被稱為鼻孔交替呼吸法的呼吸運動對促進睡眠特別有效。

鼻孔交替呼吸法對于疏通鼻孔，平衡陰陽和將精神專注于從容平和的運動有很好的效果。當我們的鼻孔暢通時，我們每兩小時就會不經意地用兩個鼻孔交替呼吸。用右邊鼻孔呼吸會刺激左邊的大腦(控制人的理智和分析能力)，并讓身體做好肉體運動(道家的陽)的準備;用左邊鼻孔呼吸則會刺激右邊大腦(控制人的創造力和情感)，并讓身體做好精神運動(道家的陰)的準備。如果兩個鼻孔堵塞，呼吸就會變得不平衡，身體的能量也就不會平衡。

當你在睡覺時間感到焦躁不安，那么走到戶外(顯然要天氣允許，但即使是在冬天，你也當然可以在空氣清新的陽臺上或者走廊里花上幾分鐘時間)，坐到舒適的椅子上，然后開始練習。你可能很難集中精神專注于呼吸練習，那么建立一個規定，每當精神散漫不能專注于呼吸練習時，你就必須要從頭開始。在不斷的練習下，你將形成在放松和專注之間自由轉換這種讓人敬佩的能力——這不僅有助于睡眠，還可以在任何時候緩解生活中的壓力。

鼻孔交替呼吸法的做法如下：用一只手捏住鼻子。比如，可以用右手的大拇指按住右鼻孔，用右手的食指或中指按住左鼻孔。按住右鼻孔，吸滿一口氣(由于只用一個鼻孔呼吸，所以呼氣和吸氣將會更慢)后停住，用手指按住左鼻孔的同時松開按住右鼻孔的大拇指，用右鼻孔呼氣后再吸氣，然后停住，再換到左鼻孔呼氣。就這樣，在呼吸循環之間交替使用左右鼻孔。一呼一吸為一次，十次為一個循環。在完成呼吸運動后，就可以帶著一個平靜的大腦回到床上睡個好覺。