How ancient breathing practice is helping India sleep well, with a little help from technology

Sleeping problems: Tech workers are among the most sleep-deprived in the country, their erratic work cycles erode natural rhythms. Besides, many don’t even realise that their breathing, not just their screens, might be keeping them up at night (Image: Canva)

Sleeplessness is silently reshaping lives. New data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) shows a startling rise in clinical sleep disorders, affecting nearly one in four urban adults. The problem is hitting younger professionals hardest, especially in tech hubs like Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

But surprisingly, hope isn’t coming from sleeping pills or expensive gadgets. Instead, it's coming from an old practice: breathing. And now, modern science is finally catching up.

"It starts subtly, a few bad nights, a racing mind, a phone too close to the pillow. But for many in urban cities, it escalates into something more serious," says Dr Ramasree Yerramsetty, General Physician and Heart Specialist, Secundrabad. She says she often sees patients with stress-induced breathing patterns that mirror those of heart attack survivors. “Their shallow, rapid breaths during sleep consultations mirror the stress patterns we see in heart patients,” she warns.

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ICMR's findings also suggest that tech workers are among the most sleep-deprived in the country, their erratic work cycles erode natural rhythms. Besides, many don’t even realise that their breathing, not just their screens, might be keeping them up at night.

Science and yoga:

While sleeplessness feels like a modern problem, its solution might be centuries old. At AIIMS Delhi, a team tracked the effects of simple diaphragmatic breathing on office workers. As a result, the participants fell asleep 19 percent faster and woke up 31 percent less during the night. “These micro-practices work because they fit into real Indian workdays,” says diabetologist Dr K Govinda Rao (MBBS, DNB (MED), PGCC in Diabetalogy) Sai Amrutha General & Daibetic care, Secundrabad. “And it’s not just in clinics. In Mumbai, commuters using the 4-7-8 breathing method during train rides reported a measurable drop in stress hormones, nearly one-third, with sleep improvements rivaling mild sedatives. Meanwhile, families practicing bedtime humming rituals are seeing children gain up to 41 extra minutes of sleep," he says.

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5 simple breath-based rituals that are helping Indians sleep better:

• The 4-7-8 breath during commutes: Used widely in clinical trials and now studied at Tata Memorial Hospital, this method involves inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 7, and exhaling for 8. Practiced during evening commutes, it lowers cortisol and primes the body for rest.
• Diaphragmatic breathing breaks at work: A five-minute session of belly breathing, in through the nose, out through pursed lips, has been linked to faster sleep onset and fewer nighttime awakenings, especially in high-stress job environments.
• Pre-bedtime family humming rituals: Families who hum together sleep better together. Studies from the Sleep Medicine journal show joint bedtime rituals like humming or chanting help children and adults fall asleep faster and reduce dependence on medication.
• Guided breathing with wearable monitors: Health monitoring apps like QuickVitals and similar tech are helping users track breathing rates and correlate them with sleep quality. Users who see the link between their daytime habits and sleep outcomes are three times more likely to stick with the routines.
• Breath-matching apps for nighttime wind-down: Several Indian-designed apps now offer real-time breath-coaching with gentle sound cues and calming visuals. Users have reported improvements comparable to traditional sleep aids, without the side effects.