Breathing properly helps to relieve stress. The natural breathing process involves the diaphragm, the large muscle in the abdomen. When you breathe properly, your stomach expands when you inhale and then collapses when you exhale. When you breathe with your chest and shoulder, as most people do, your breath is short and shallow, which increases stress and anxiety.

To improve your breathing, sit in a comfortable position or lie down on your back. Keep your back straight and drop your shoulders to release tension. Shut your eyes. Keep one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Practice breathing, allowing only your stomach to rise when you breathe in and collapse when you breathe out.

Meditation

Meditation is an effective way to relieve stress and often involves breathing exercises. The objective of meditation is inner tranquility and inner peace. Meditation is a technique used to control negative thoughts by concentrating on a particular subject or object. Meditation gives you a deeper sense of relaxation and can help you keep calm when stress disturbs your balance.

Following are some ways to meditate:

• Word Meditation: In this type of meditation, you repeat a particular word or phrase over and over. This repetition brings concentration in order to achieve an inner calm and peace.

• Mindful Meditation: This technique concentrates on what you experience during meditation, such as your breathing, and lets your thoughts and emotions just pass through your mind.

• Guided Visualization: In this type of meditation, you utilize as many senses as possible to visualize and concentrate on mental images of places or situations.

• Yoga: This technique consists of performing a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises to make your body more flexible and your mind more peaceful.

• Tai Chi: In this form of Chinese martial arts, various graceful, dance-like movements are performed along with breathing exercises.

• Qi Gong: This type of yoga is a part of Chinese medicine that restores and maintains inner balance by combining the techniques of meditation, relaxation, and physical and breathing exercises.

Some sleep disorders call for specific precautions to ensure safety.

Parasomnias

If you or someone in your home is experiencing a parasomnia, such as sleepwalking or REM sleep behavior disorder, you might consider taking these precautions:

• Keep potentially harmful items like knives, gardening tools, glass and other breakable objects out of the sleeper’s path

• If possible, accommodate the sleeper with a ground-floor bedroom

• Keep paths where the person is sleeping clear of obstacles

• Keep doors and windows locked and bolted

• Use heavy drapes to cover the glass windows

• Keep an alarm or bell within reach of the sleeper, in case of emergency

• Find ways to reduce stress and fatigue

• Someone with a parasomnia should avoid alcohol, smoking, and caffeine, which can act as stimulants and contribute to sleep deprivation.

The treatment of narcolepsy is aimed at improving alertness. Narcoleptics should try to get a good night’s sleep by:

• Setting up regular sleep and wake-up schedules

• Avoiding depressants such as alcohol

• If possible, trying to change work and/or school schedules so you do not have to wake up early

• Take short, 20 to 30 minute naps when feeling too sleepy

• Taking controlled quantities of caffeinated beverages to keep you alert and awake

• Asking your doctor’s advice about operating heavy machinery or driving cars, and following those instructions carefully

• Sharing your situation and condition with those who can offer support, like your family and friends, your employer, or teachers; you can also join support groups to communicate with others suffering like you

Someone with sleep apnea should try to avoid sleeping on their back. Doing so causes the tongue and soft tissue to rest on the back of the throat, which leads to obstructed breathing.

Instead, they should make an effort to sleep on their side or stomach in order to keep their throat open.