When relaxation is your end goal, breath becomes your most important ally. Simply taking deeper, more controlled breaths can be enough to lower your cortisol levels1, since breathing into the diaphragm can stimulate the vagus nerve, which kickstarts your body’s parasympathetic response. Another in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that just 25 minutes of mindful meditation over a three-day span regulated participants’ cortisol response and reduced self-reported psychological stress. Below, an introduction to five meditation exercises that can help you use the power of the breath to relax and fall asleep more easily. Many of them also come with meditations specifically designed to combat stress and evoke relaxation. You can do the quicker, five-minute exercises in a pinch when you feel your stress response triggered, or make a habit of listening to a longer one to unwind for bed. Whatever your mantra may be, repeat it with each inhale, letting it regulate the breath and mask the lingering worries that may creep in during your wind-down practice. Doing so should help you begin to unwind within 60 seconds or less. “The slower you breathe the quieter the mind will become,” she says. If the two-to-four count feels too short, she says to increase the length of the breath to four in and six out, or six in and eight out, etc. “But if longer breaths create any anxiety, there is no need to push yourself,” she reminds us. At the end of the day, it’s all about what pattern makes you feel the most comfortable and at ease, so play around with different combinations of inhales and exhales until you find your sweet spot. Hypnotherapist Grace Smith often calls upon visualization when working with clients. She encourages them to imagine that stress is a physical being and politely asking it to leave your life to make way for more flow. Then, she says to see in full detail what you want to replace it with. So, if you’re looking to boost creativity, imagine a fountain: “I love visualizing a fountain or a faucet turning on—one that continues to flow and flow and flow with ideas. All you need to do is fill up your pail, carry it back to desk or studio, and see where these new ideas lead you. Imagine both accessing new ideas as well as following through with their execution easily and effortlessly, all the while being kind to yourself,” she says. No. 1 rule: Be kind to yourself, and thank yourself for every effort. Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
