Learn Hardcore German: Die Atemübung hilft ihr, innere Unruhe loszulassen, bevor sie einschläft. - The breathing exercise helps her let go of inner restlessness before she falls asleep.

Die Atemübung – nominative singular, feminine
- Subject of the sentence (the breathing exercise is doing the helping).
hilft – 3rd person singular, present tense of helfen.
ihr – dative singular feminine
- Indirect object of helfen (the exercise helps her).
innere Unruhe loszulassen – infinitive clause, functioning like a direct object of hilft (what does it help her to do? to let go of inner restlessness).
- Inside this clause:
  - innere Unruhe – accusative, the thing that is being let go.
bevor sie einschläft – subordinate time clause
- sie – nominative (subject of the verb einschläft).
- einschläft – 3rd person singular, present tense of einschlafen.

So you see nominative (die Atemübung, sie), dative (ihr), and accusative (innere Unruhe) all in one sentence.

Why is it hilft ihr and not hilft sie?

Because the verb helfen always takes a dative object in German.

In English you say “help her”, and her is a direct object.
In German, helfen ≈ “to be helpful to someone” → that “someone” is in the dative:

Dative forms of sie (she) and sie (they) are:

ihr = to her
ihnen = to them

So:

Die Atemübung hilft ihr. = The breathing exercise helps her.
Die Atemübung hilft ihnen. = The breathing exercise helps them.

Hilft sie would make sie nominative (= a subject) or accusative (= direct object), which is not how helfen works.
So hilft ihr is required by the verb.

What exactly is happening in ihr, innere Unruhe loszulassen? How does that grammar work?

This is a zu-infinitive clause (an infinitive construction with zu) that expresses what the breathing exercise helps her to do.

Main clause core: Die Atemübung hilft ihr …
Infinitive clause: innere Unruhe loszulassen = “to let go of inner restlessness”

The pattern is:

helfen + Dative person + zu + infinitive
hilft ihr, … loszulassen

English structure: “helps her to let go of inner restlessness”.

So:

ihr is still governed by hilft (it doesn’t belong to the infinitive clause).
innere Unruhe is the object of loszulassen.
loszulassen is an infinitive formed from the separable verb loslassen with zu in the middle (see below).

Why is it loszulassen and not zu loslassen or lassenlos?

Because loslassen is a separable prefix verb, and separable verbs follow special rules with zu:

Base infinitive (dictionary form): loslassen
- Present tense (main clause):
  - ich lasse los, sie lässt los, etc. (prefix los goes to the end).
With zu in an infinitive construction, zu is inserted between the prefix and the verb stem:
- loszulassen = los
  - zu
    - lassen

So the patterns are:

Main clause: Ich lasse die innere Unruhe los.
Infinitive clause: … die innere Unruhe loszulassen.

Incorrect forms:

zu loslassen – word order is wrong for a separable verb.
lassenlos – the prefix can’t be glued to the end like that.

Other examples:

aufstehen → ich stehe auf → aufzustehen
ausmachen → ich mache aus → auszumachen

Why does innere Unruhe have no article here? Could you say die innere Unruhe?

Yes, you could say die innere Unruhe, but leaving out the article is very natural in this context.

Here innere Unruhe is:

An abstract, uncountable concept (inner restlessness, anxiety).
Functioning like “some inner restlessness” or “inner restlessness in general”.

German often drops the article with abstract or mass nouns when speaking generally:

Angst haben – to be afraid (not die Angst haben in general statements)
Geduld verlieren – to lose patience
Ruhe finden – to find peace

Adding die:

die innere Unruhe loslassen sounds more specific, like a particular, already-known restlessness (“that inner restlessness we’ve talked about”).

In a neutral, general statement, innere Unruhe loszulassen (no article) is very idiomatic.

What is the difference between bevor sie einschläft and bevor sie schläft ein?

In a subordinate clause (introduced by bevor, weil, dass, etc.), the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause.

Verb: einschlafen (separable: ich schlafe ein in a main clause)
Main clause word order:
- Sie schläft ein. (finite verb second, prefix at the end)
Subordinate clause word order:
- … bevor sie einschläft. (everything before, finite verb at the very end, prefix re-attached)

So:

bevor sie einschläft = correct subordinate word order
bevor sie schläft ein = incorrect (you are treating it like a main clause)

Rule of thumb:

Main clause: sie schläft ein
Subordinate clause: … bevor sie einschläft

Why is the verb einschläft (with ä) and not einschlaft?

Because einschlafen is a strong (irregular) verb that changes its stem vowel in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

Conjugation (present tense):

ich schlafe ein
du schläfst ein
er/sie/es schläft ein
wir schlafen ein
ihr schlaft ein
sie schlafen ein

In the subordinate clause, the same form moves to the end as einschläft.

So:

Subject sie (she) → 3rd person singular
Correct form: sie schläft ein → in subclause sie einschläft

Why is there a comma before bevor sie einschläft?

Because bevor introduces a subordinate clause, and in German you must separate a subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma.

Structure:

Main clause: Die Atemübung hilft ihr, innere Unruhe loszulassen
Subordinate clause: bevor sie einschläft

Rules:

Subordinate conjunctions like bevor, weil, dass, obwohl, wenn require a comma before the clause.
The verb in the subordinate clause moves to the end.

So:

…, bevor sie einschläft. → comma + verb at the end = classic subordinate clause pattern.

Why is the present tense used (hilft, einschläft) even though this sounds like a repeated or general action?

German uses the present tense more broadly than English:

Die Atemübung hilft ihr …
- Can mean:
  - It helps her right now, or
  - It generally helps her (habitual effect).
English must often choose:
- “The exercise helps her …” (general, habitual)
- “The exercise is helping her …” (right now)

German present tense covers both. There is no special “present progressive” form.

Similarly:

bevor sie einschläft can mean:
- Before she (usually) falls asleep (each night), or
- Before she falls asleep (this time).

Context decides whether it’s a one-time or repeated action.

Could ihr here mean something else, like “their” or “to them”? How do we know it’s “her”?

Ihr is ambiguous in isolation, because it has several possible roles:

ihr (dative singular, feminine) = to her
ihr (possessive adjective, singular feminine) = her (as in “her book”)
ihr (possessive adjective, plural) = their (as in “their book”)
ihr (nominative plural personal pronoun) = you (plural)

In hilft ihr:

helfen requires a dative person.
ihr directly after hilft is almost always “to her” (dative singular of sie = she).
Possessive ihr would need a noun after it, e.g., ihr Buch (“her book” / “their book”).

So in this sentence, ihr unambiguously functions as dative singular: “helps her”.

Why is the comma placed before innere Unruhe loszulassen? Is that mandatory?

This comma separates the zu-infinitive clause from the main clause.

Pattern:

Main clause: Die Atemübung hilft ihr
Infinitive clause: innere Unruhe loszulassen

In modern standard German, the comma before most zu + infinitive clauses is optional, but often recommended, especially when:

The infinitive clause is longer or more complex.
There could be ambiguity without a comma.

Many writers and teachers treat it as “practically mandatory” in cases like:

Sie versucht, das Problem zu lösen.
Er hofft, bald anzukommen.
Die Atemübung hilft ihr, innere Unruhe loszulassen.

Without the comma, it’s not wrong, but with the comma is clearer and more standard in careful writing.

Could you rephrase this sentence in simpler German without the infinitive clause?

Yes, there are several ways, though you usually lose some naturalness or elegance. For example:

Split into two sentences:
- Die Atemübung hilft ihr. Sie lässt ihre innere Unruhe los, bevor sie einschläft.
Use dabei:
- Die Atemübung hilft ihr dabei, ihre innere Unruhe loszulassen, bevor sie einschläft.
  (Very natural; explicitly says “helps her with that”.)
More literal but slightly clunky:
- Die Atemübung hilft ihr, bevor sie einschläft, ihre innere Unruhe loszulassen.
  (Still grammatically fine, just a bit heavier.)

The original sentence with the infinitive clause is idiomatic and compact, so it’s actually a very typical structure to learn and copy.