Conversing Care

Category: Relaxation & Sleep

High quality sleep clears our minds and gives us energy to do the things that matter most. Explore these resources to calm our bodies and improve sleep routine.

  • Elephant Breathing

    Elephant Breathing

    Overview

    Elephant Breathing is an exercise to reduce anxiety levels and to make you feel relaxed anyone can try.

    Requirements

    You will want to be sitting down on a comfy sofa or bed in a quiet environment so you can take notice of your breathing.

    If you have a medical condition which affects your routine breathing pattern, we advise you seek medical advice before trying new breathing exercises.

    ✋ Are you struggling right now?

    If you or someone else is feeling unsafe or experiencing suicidal thinking, please visit the Urgent Help page now to find what actions you need to take.

    How to

    Sit of lay in a comfortable position, making sure your chest and stomach can expand with little resistance while breathing. Laying on your side is also fine.

    When your ready:

    1. Take in a smooth deep breath for the length it takes you to say “Elephant” to yourself twice.
    2. Now pause and hold your breath for 1 Elephant.
    3. Slowly breath out for 3 Elephants.

    Repeat this pattern of breathing 3 to 5 times in a single sitting.

    Additional

    Saying ‘elephant’ gives you a sense of time while breathing, regulating each individual breath.

    This technique can be used once a day, before bedtime or napping.

    It may take a couple of weeks before you begin to notice its benefits of relaxing your body and regulating your breathing. This is perfectly normal.

  • Basic Body Scan

    Overview

    A Basic Body Scan is to check-in and relax each part of your body in a structured way to make sure all of the body becomes relaxed.

    Requirements

    You need somewhere you are most comfortable laying down.

    This can take up to 10 – 20 minutes for beginners. If well practised only takes 5 minutes.

    ✋ Are you struggling right now?

    If you or someone else is feeling unsafe or experiencing suicidal thinking, please visit the Urgent Help page now to find what actions you need to take.

    How to

    Firstly, lay down in a comfortable position which supports all of your body. When you are as comfy as can be:

    1. Take notice of your breathing. Find a gentle, repetitive rhythm, allowing breaths to become deeper as time goes on.
    2. As you are doing this, notice how your body becomes heavier, picking up sensations within your body like weight, temperature, stiffness and even pain. Don’t be alarmed if new sensations appear out of the blue, this is completely natural.
    3. Now pay attention to your toes. Allow them to become heavier and more relaxed as time goes on. (If you are struggling to relax your toes, crunch them up as hard as you can for 5 seconds and then release. This will allow you to notice a change in sensation which is the feeling you want to achieve.)
    4. Now bring that relaxed sensation from your toes and pull that feeling into the whole of your feet, again allowing them to relax and become heavier.
    5. Continue this pattern of relaxing each part of your body one bit at a time, up to your knees, then hips, shoulders, down through the aims to the fingertips, neck and head.

    Additional

    If you’re struggling to complete all of these steps in a single sitting, that’s okay. Instead, go at your own pace, just focusing the body scan in your feet. As this becomes easier, progress into more regions of the body, one step at a time.

    A body scan can be done as frequently as necessary but every day, before you go to sleep, is a healthy way to get to sleep quicker or more deeply.

    This technique if well practised only takes 5 minutes.