I’ve talked about breathing exercises related to restless legs before in my blogs.
Breathing exercises are found in yoga. You can also find them in certain forms of meditation or in forms of mindfulness.
I described another application of breathing exercises a while back in my blog about cold showers.
In the Netherlands, when you think of cold training, you think of the Wim Hof Method. There is also a Wim Hof Breathing.
In this blog I focus specifically on the question of whether and how breathing exercises can help with restless legs.
I name different forms of breathing and indicate what these breathing techniques are good for.
What are breathing exercises
There are roughly two types of breathing exercises.
In the first, you follow the breath as it naturally occurs. Without influencing it.
In the second form, you breathe in a certain, prescribed way. You influence your breathing.
The first category is mainly found in meditation and mindfulness. With the help of breathing exercises you observe yourself and your situation. Through your breathing you get to know yourself better and within such a context you can relax a bit more easily.
The second category is found in yoga. There are even special breathing techniques in yoga where you control the breath. This is called pranayama. Pranayama means something like restraint of the breath, or of energy.
Also in Wim Hof Breathing you exercise a certain control on your breath. Wim Hof describes on his website what all this could be good for. I don’t know if his health claims are all substantiated. It is interesting though.
Relaxation
I think most people associate breathing exercises with exercises that help you relax.
In relaxation exercises you will usually also find guided breathing techniques. I already wrote a blog about relaxation exercises.
Relaxation is important for everyone, but certainly also for people with RLS.
Restless legs cause stress and tension. That stress and tension, in turn, make restless legs worse at night.
Mentally it is also a lot more difficult to fall asleep with stressful thoughts.
Sleep
To fall asleep more easily, it is a good idea to do relaxation exercises and breathing exercises.
Personally, I think that before sleeping, breathing techniques in which you follow your breath without control are the most beneficial.
You may compare these types of breathing exercises with counting sheep. You focus your attention on something that keeps repeating itself. Your thoughts don’t go in all directions, because you are already concentrating on something else.
I myself do yoga exercises shortly before bedtime and meditate for a while. During the exercises I am aware of my breathing.
Restless legs
Breathing exercises won’t make restless legs go away.
I do think they help your sleep, just like other relaxation activities.
In my experience, breathing exercises with regular practice also have another effect that can be of great benefit to RLS.
I am thinking of an effect in the sense of finding more peace in your situation. Acceptance and acceptance of your complaints make a huge difference in how you experience your restless legs.
