5 yoga asanas to control your snoring

Do you ever wake up to complaints about your snoring? Or perhaps you’ve been startled awake by the sound of your own snores. If you relate to this, don’t worry. It is very common. Snoring impacts countless individuals globally, interrupting the sleep of the snorer and those around them. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be permanent. We’ll explore what causes snoring, scientific aspects of how yoga helps, and easy yoga asanas for snoring in this blog. By the time you finish, you will be equipped with snoring remedies that will transform your nights.

What Causes Snoring?

25% of adults face the problem of snoring regularly, and a whopping 45% of adults snore occasionally. Snoring happens when the air can’t freely move through your mouth and nose during sleep. This blockage makes nearby tissues vibrate, leading to the characteristic sound of snoring. Some common causes of this obstruction are:

1. Nasal Congestion: Allergies or a cold can cause a blocked nose, making it difficult to breathe through your nose and forcing you to use your mouth.
2. Excess weight: Having fat in the throat area compresses the airways.
3. Sleeping Position: when you sleep repeatedly on your back, your tongue can move towards the throat and partially block the airway.
4.  Alcohol or Sedatives: These substances relax throat muscles, making you more likely to snore.
5. Physical Attributes: Snoring can be caused by enlarged tonsils, a deviated septum or a naturally narrow airway.

The Science Behind Yoga for Snoring

Apart from being an excellent way to exercise, yoga is also a comprehensive practice that increases breathing, tones the throat muscles, and relieves stress. Let us understand how yoga is one of the best home remedies for snoring.

1.  Breathing control: The regulated breathing in yoga may help to remove blockages from the nasal passage and improve air circulation.
2. Throat muscles become stronger: There are many yoga poses and breathing exercises that work around your throat muscles to minimize their collapse during sleep.
3. Lowers stress: Shallow and irregular breathing due to stress can aggravate snoring. Yoga has relaxing effects that help in deep, regular breathing.
4. Weight loss: If your snoring is caused by obesity, yoga can help you lose weight through physical activity and mindfulness, thus preventing fat accumulation in the throat.

Yoga for Snoring

Now that we learnt how yoga can be one of the best snoring remedies, let us look at some asanas that will teach you how to stop snoring.

1. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

Why it works: This exercise is one of the best snoring treatments as it helps to strengthen the throat muscles, opens up the chest, and improves airflow.

How to do it:

1.  Lay face down, hands under shoulders.
2. Raise your chest slowly off the ground while keeping your elbows slightly bent.
3. Breathe deeply in this position while looking upwards for 15-20 seconds.
4. Breathe out and let yourself down. Repeat three to five times.

2.  Simhasana (Lion Pose)

Why it works: Simhasana, which stretches the throat and tongue, is known to greatly help reduce snoring.

How to do it:

1.  Sit on your heels with palms placed over knees.
2. Take a deep breath in and, as you exhale, open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out as far as possible.
3. Make a “Ha” sound with your throat.
4. Do this exercise 5-7 times.

3. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)

Why it works: By opening up the lungs and chest cavity, Setu Bandhasana facilitates deep breathing through diaphragmatic movement, which widens the airways, making it one of the best home remedies for snoring.

How to do it:

1.  Lie on your back and bend your knees.
2.  Hold your ankles or keep your arms along your side.
3.  Next, push your hips up.
4. Stay in this position for 15 to 30 seconds.

4. Bhramari Pranayama (Bee Breathing)

Why it works: This asana clears the nasal passage and calms the mind, which induces deep sleep.

How to do it:

1. Sit comfortably in padmasana and close your eyes. 
2. Take a deep breath in and make a humming sound as you’re breathing out. 
3. Repeat for 5 to 7 times.

5. Ujjayi Pranayama (Ocean Breath)

Why it works: This asana helps strengthen the muscles of the throat and increases the lung capacity making it a great snoring treatment.

How to do it:

1.  Sit in Padmasana with your back straight
2. Take a deep breath through your nose.
3. Squeeze the back of your throat slightly as you inhale.
4. Exhale slowly through your nose.
5.  When you exhale, make a soft “ha” or hissing sound.
6. Do this for 10 to 15 minutes.

If you’re having trouble getting started with these asanas, you can always choose to start off with our 14-day yoga challenge, which will help you ease into it and help you progress day by day.

Additional Tips to Reduce Snoring

Apart from yoga, making small lifestyle changes is also equally important to reduce snoring. So here are four additional tips on how to avoid snoring at night.

• Stay Within Healthy Weights: Yoga practice in combination with a healthy diet will surely make you lose weight and take off pounds from all over the body, thus alleviating pressure in the airway.
•  Drink More Water: Thicker saliva resulting from dehydration can further aggravate throat snoring. So make sure to drink lots of water all day long.

• Sleep on Your Side: Sleeping on the back can make snoring worse. Use a body pillow to position yourself to sleep on your side.
• Maintain Clean Air for your Bedroom: A humidifier or air purifier will help decrease allergens that contribute to nasal block.

Conclusion

The results of yoga for snoring are not going to be immediate. Like any home remedy, you have to stick with it. Consistently practice these asanas and breathing techniques for a month or more if possible and witness great effects. Finding it difficult to stay consistent? Just join our 14-Day Yoga Challenge to get started with guided sessions and see the difference it can make in just 2 weeks!

 Snoring does not have to be your enemy for life. By incorporating the above mentioned asanas into your daily routine, you will be able to reduce snoring and promote better sleep for you and your loved ones. And what’s more, with Habuild, you can increase your lung capacity, clear your airways and reduce snoring all from home! So join now and start your wellness journey today. Sweet dreams!