Reduce your allergic asthma breathing difficulties with child pose
Every night, before I go to bed, I do something that’s made a dramatic difference in my breathing through the night. Before I started doing this, nights were the worst time for my allergic asthma–my breathing would get painful and wheezy–and now I’ve seen a big improvement in my symptoms.
What I do is use a meditation from the book Ten Zen Seconds: “I am completely stopping.” I take child’s pose on the floor, and breath in repeating “I am completely” and out on “stopping.” I repeat the whole thing ten times while consciously *not* focusing on how my breathing feels. Focusing on how my breathing feels tends to make it feel worse and to increase my breathing difficulties, so while I’m doing this meditation, I focus just on the words of the meditation.
This helps make me aware of my breathing and gives me time before falling asleep to consciously relax. It stops my mind from racing and definitely helps me fall asleep more quickly.
I’m not sure if it’s that falling asleep more quickly gives me less time to focus on my breathing difficulties, or if relaxing my breathing consciously helps relieve my allergic asthma symptoms, but it has definitely made a difference.
So, give it a try for yourself–the pose is really easy and comfortable, and a little relaxation before drifting off to sleep should help you sleep better. What kinds of relaxation rituals do you use to ease your allergic asthma? I’d love to know!