4-7-8 Breathing for Sleep
The best-known sleep breath. The hold with full lungs and the long exhale slow everything down.
Three sets of 8 breaths with rests between. Keep the hold soft, never strained.
Watch on YouTube →The Breathwork Channel · Sleep
Breathing Exercises for Sleep
Ten free guided sessions to help you wind down, fall asleep and get back to sleep.
New sleep sessions are added every week. Last updated November 9, 2026.
Slow breathing is one of the simplest ways to tell your body the day is over. Pick a session by how much time you have, lie down and follow the bells. You don't need any experience, and you never need to force the breath.
Not sure where to start? Tonight, try 4-8 Breathing for Sleep. It has no breath holds, just a long, easy exhale. If you like it, do it most nights for a few weeks: in the research, the benefits built up with regular practice.
10 minutes in bed
Short, single-technique sessions. Lie down, press play, close your eyes when the rhythm settles.
4-8 Breathing for Sleep
A long, easy exhale with no breath holds. The gentlest place to start.
Every exhale is twice as long as the inhale. Nothing to count: the wave shows the next breath coming.
Watch on YouTube →Coherence Breathing (5.5 in, 5.5 out)
About five and a half breaths a minute, the slow pace most sleep studies use.
Even breaths through the nose, no holds. A good nightly habit.
Watch on YouTube →8-8 Breathing for Deep Calm
Very slow, even breathing, just under four breaths a minute.
If eight feels like a strain, breathe at five. Never force it.
Watch on YouTube →Big Bottom Triangle Breathing
A quiet pause after the exhale. Many people find it deeply settling.
Hold with relaxed lungs. If you can't stay calm and relaxed in the pause, shorten it.
Watch on YouTube →A longer wind-down (20 to 30 minutes)
Several techniques linked into one slow descent, for the half hour before sleep.
30-Minute Breathing for Sleep
Our full bedtime routine: the breathing slows in stages, with Peaceful Apneas between them.
Each step is named on screen as it begins. If a count feels like a strain, go back to the one before.
Watch on YouTube →8-8 Breathing for Deep Calm and Sleep
Thirty unbroken minutes of slow, even breathing.
One rhythm the whole way through, so you can let go of the screen entirely.
Watch on YouTube →20-Minute Breathwork for Deep Relaxation
The Sample Relaxation Session from A Practical Guide to Breathwork, in 20 minutes.
Good on nights you need to unwind but don't have half an hour.
Watch on YouTube →Play it as you fall asleep
Live replays that keep going for hours. Follow along as long as you like and drift off whenever you're ready.
Evening Wind-Down (Live)
Starts with box breathing and slows all evening, ending on long exhales for sleep.
Join at any point: the corner of the screen shows what's playing now and what's next.
Watch on YouTube →All-Night Sleep Breathing (Live)
Long exhales and soft bells, made to play quietly while you settle into bed.
Turn your screen away or down: the bells carry the rhythm.
Watch on YouTube →What the research says about breathing for sleep
Slowing your breathing to around five or six breaths a minute shifts your nervous system toward its "rest and digest" side, which you can see in your heart rate variability. Several studies link that shift to falling asleep faster and sleeping better. Here are the ones we lean on.
Slow breathing before bed helped people with insomnia
In a small study, people with insomnia practiced slow, paced breathing (about six breaths a minute) for 20 minutes before bed. They fell asleep faster, woke less often and spent less of the night awake, and their heart rate variability showed more "rest and digest" (vagal) activity.
Tsai HJ et al. Efficacy of paced breathing for insomnia: enhances vagal activity and improves sleep quality. Psychophysiology, 2015;52(3):388-396. Read the study
15 minutes a night for a month beat scrolling
Healthy adults were randomly assigned to 15 minutes of slow-paced breathing each evening, or 15 minutes of social media, for 30 days. The breathing group reported better sleep quality and had higher vagal activity overnight.
Laborde S, Hosang T, Mosley E, Dosseville F. Influence of a 30-day slow-paced breathing intervention compared to social media use on subjective sleep quality and cardiac vagal activity. J Clin Med, 2019;8(2):193. Read the study
Why it works: calming a nervous system stuck "on"
One leading model of insomnia is hyperarousal: the body stays in a stressed, alert state at bedtime. Researchers argue that slow, deep breathing at about six breaths a minute is a simple, low-cost add-on to good sleep habits, both for falling asleep and for getting back to sleep.
Jerath R, Beveridge C, Barnes VA. Self-regulation of breathing as an adjunctive treatment of insomnia. Front Psychiatry, 2019;9:780 (perspective article). Read the study
4-7-8 shifted the nervous system toward rest
In 43 healthy young adults, a session of 4-7-8 breathing increased high-frequency heart rate variability, a marker of vagal activity, and lowered blood pressure. The effects were clearest in people who were not sleep-deprived.
Vierra J, Boonla O, Prasertsri P. Effects of sleep deprivation and 4-7-8 breathing control on heart rate variability, blood pressure, blood glucose, and endothelial function in healthy young adults. Physiol Rep, 2022;10(13):e15389. Read the study
Go deeper: the best breathing pace for sleep, per research, the 4-7-8 nursing trial, mouth taping and sleep apnea and James Stewart's lesson on breathing for better sleep.
Common questions
What is the best breathing exercise for sleep?
Slow breathing at about five to six breaths a minute has the most research behind it, and many people like a longer exhale. That is roughly coherence breathing (5.5 in, 5.5 out) or 4-8 breathing. 4-7-8 breathing also has supportive studies. The best one is the one you find easy enough to do every night, so try a few from this page.
How long should I do breathing exercises before bed?
Ten to twenty minutes is a good target. In the studies above, people practiced for 15 to 20 minutes each evening, and the benefits built up over weeks. Short sessions still help you settle, and the all-night replays let you keep going for as long as you like.
Does 4-7-8 breathing really help you fall asleep?
There is promising evidence. A randomized trial in nursing students found better sleep quality after four weeks of nightly 4-7-8 breathing, and a lab study found it shifted heart rate variability toward rest. The studies are small, so think of it as a helpful habit rather than a guaranteed switch.
Is it okay to fall asleep during a session?
Yes. That is the point of the sessions in the last group. They are made to keep playing quietly while you drift off. Turn the screen down and let the bells carry the rhythm.
Should I breathe through my nose or my mouth?
Breathe in through your nose. Most sessions on this page use the nose for the exhale too, which tends to keep the breath slow and quiet. In the longer wind-downs you can exhale through your mouth if that feels easier.
What if the breath holds feel uncomfortable?
Shorten them, or pick a session with no holds, like 4-8 or coherence breathing. The urge to breathe during a hold comes partly from rising carbon dioxide and partly from your brain predicting that you need air, so it tends to ease with relaxed practice. Stay soft and relaxed. If you can't stay relaxed, back off.
Can breathing exercises treat insomnia or sleep apnea?
Breathing practice is a helpful add-on to good sleep habits, not a replacement for medical care. If you snore loudly, stop breathing or gasp in your sleep, or have trouble sleeping most nights for weeks, talk to a doctor. Sleep apnea and chronic insomnia have effective treatments.