Yoga is a healthy practice well known for its ability to heal people of their stress and anxiety. However, did you know that it could also help stop snoring and sleep apnea in their respective tracks? Throwing in some snore stop yoga exercises to augment your daily routine can prove the difference between peaceful and snore-ridden slumber.

Kapalbhati

“Kapal” means skull and “bhati” means shining, and so this technique is also called the “shining skull” technique. It assists in clearing the cranial sinus, the lungs, and the organs present inside the skull. It makes use of forceful breathing to improve how the cranial sinus and systems function.

• Get seated in a comfortable position with your spine erect. Place the hands on the knees, and the palms facing up.
• Take a deep breath in.
• When you start to exhale; try to pull the navel back toward the spine, as far as you can. Place the right hand on your abdomen to feel the muscles contract. Exhale as forcefully as you can.
• Start relaxing the navel, so that breath flows automatically into your lungs.
• Do 20 reps of the above steps to finish one round.
• After each round, sit still with your eyes closed and pay attention to the way you are feeling.
• Do 2 more rounds.

Bhastrika

Also called “bellow’s breath”, Bhastrika is intended to make your inhalations equal your exhalations in length. With the increased control this gives you over your breathing, you will be able to take longer breaths and relax more easily.

• First, you need to sit still and relax the shoulders. From this position, take in a few breaths through the nose and exhale. When you inhale, make sure to expand the stomach as much as possible.
• Exhale with force through the nose for a single second. After this, inhale with the same force for a single second.
• Keep breathing in and out this way, counting seconds. Your posture should be kept erect, with shoulders relaxed and body still. Only your belly must rise and fall with each breath going in and out.
• Do this 10 times to complete a cycle; when you are done with the first round, stop for a few seconds to see how you feel. Start the next cycle of 20 reps, pause again, and see how you feel. Then, do your next set of 30 reps; again, sit still and see how you feel.