Doctor shares 'five-finger breathing' technique to help adults and kids fall asleep fast

Tod Perry
Tue, 23 Sep 2025 23:29:42 +0000
Andrew huberman, Bill maher, Cleveland clinic, Five finger breathing, Insomnia, Kid sleep hacks, Kids breathing, Medical tips, Parasympathetic nervous system, Relaxation techniques, Sleep hacks, Sleep techniques, Slow breathing, Yoga guppies, Sleep

One of the best ways to improve your health is to regularly get at least seven hours of quality sleep a night. But unfortunately for many Americans, that type of sleep can be hard to come by. A recent report found that 12% of Americans have chronic insomnia, and about one out of every three do not get the recommended sleep they need for optimal health.

It’s not surprising that people are having a hard time getting some shut-eye; there are a lot of things to keep people up at night these days. But there are methods endorsed by the medical community to help calm your mind and body, making it much easier to fall asleep. The Cleveland Clinic released a video on TikTok where pain specialist and behavioral medicine psychologist Judith Scheman, PhD, explains the technique to help people fall asleep.

@clevelandclinic
Five-finger breathing is a simple but powerful breathing technique that induces deep relaxation — and you can do just about anywhere! ?? Unlike other types of breathwork, five-finger breathing is a multisensory experience where you concentrate on more than just your breath. You also focus on the movement and sensation of one hand touching another, slowly and with intentionality. This helps your brain enter a state of deep relaxation, which causes it to release endorphins.

How to do five-finger breathing for deep relaxation

Step 1: Position your hands

Close your eyes, hold one hand out, and spread your fingers. This is known as your base hand. Take the index finger on your other hand and place it at the bottom of your extended thumb.

Step 2: Breathe while you trace

Slowly move your finger up the thumb on your base hand while inhaling. When you reach the top of the thumb, begin to exhale on your way down. Repeat this process for every finger, making sure you keep your breath slow and steady.

Step 3: Reverse

Once you've reached your pinky, it’s time to go back the other way on the hand. Keep your breathing slow to release tension in your body with each exhale.

Why does five-finger breathing work?

The technique is effective because it allows the parasympathetic nervous system to release endorphins, which calm the brain. Endorphins comes from the combination of two words: morphine, the opiate pain reliever, and “endogenous,” which means “within the body.” Combined, it means a natural, internal pain reliever.

The technique is also helpful for children. It’s easy to teach because it’s similar to making a hand turkey like they did in kindergarten. But instead of tracing their hand with a pencil, they just use their finger.

Here is a fun explanation for kids with Rashmi from Yoga Guppy.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Recently, Upworthy featured another sleep hack, this time courtesy of popular neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. “In fact, if you wake up in the middle of the night and you're having trouble falling back asleep, try just doing some long, extended exhales. And get this, this sounds really weird, but it has a basis in physiology. Keep your eyes closed and just move your eyes from side to side behind your eyelids like this, back and forth,” Huberman told Bill Maher on an episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, as he moved his eyes from side to side as if he was surveying a vast landscape. “Do some long exhales. I can't promise, but I'm willing to wager like maybe one pinky, that within five minutes or so, you'll be back to sleep.”

Huberman says that the movement helps us calm down because our brains evolved to sense that if we are walking forward, then were aren’t facing any threats. When we walk forward, we tend to move our eyes from side to side, as if surveying the landscape in front of us. Therefore, it releases chemicals to keep the mind calm.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Whether you use the five-finger breathing hack, the Andrew Huberman eye technique, or this military exercise, there’s nothing wrong with having as many tools in your sleep shed as possible. Who knows, one night the finger trick may put you right back to sleep, and the eye roll method may work on another. All that matters in the morning is that you got some decent shut-eye.