4-7-8 Breathing Technique

 

Struggling To Fall Asleep Or Feeling Anxious & Overwhelmed?

In just 60 seconds, the 4-7-8 breathing technique can calm your mind, lower stress and help you sleep naturally – no medication required!

 

How Does It Work?

1. By Activating The Parasympathetic System

The extended exhalation in the 4-7-8 technique is longer than the inhale. This longer exhale helps to stimulate the vagus nerve, a key component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which then tells the brain that the immediate threat has passed.

2. Initiating Rest And Relaxation

By activating the parasympathetic system, the body moves into a state of “rest and digest”, slowing down the heart rate, reducing the body’s stress response and allowing for natural processes of healing and growth.

3. Creating Balance

The nervous system needs to balance between the sympathetic (stress/alertness) and parasympathetic (rest/calm) systems. The 4-7-8 breathing method helps to shift the balance from sympathetic dominance towards the parasympathetic system, fostering an overall sense of calm.

 

How To Do 4-7-8 Breathing

Used by millions globally, this technique is recommended by Andrew Weil MD, Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and endorsed by integrative health practitioners for stress relief and better sleep.

Dr Weil recommends you do this exercise anytime you’re feeling stressed or anxious.

It will powerfully centre and relax your system without drugs.

Click below to watch the short video where Dr Weil explains how to do it ….

 

 

You can do this in any position – lying down, seated, standing.

If seated, it’s good to keep your feet flat on the floor and keep your back straight.

And in yoga breathing you’re asked to keep your tongue in the yogic position – which is touching the tip of your tongue to the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth.

 

 

Note that you always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale audibly through your mouth.

The tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time.

Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation.

With practice you can slow it all down and get used to inhaling and exhaling more and more deeply.

Dr Weil stresses:

• it’s not the intensity with which you do it

• or the amount of time on any given day

• it’s all about the regularity of doing it over a period of weeks / months / years that produces the change you want.

• After one month, you can increase to 8 breath cycles. That’s the maximum. Never more than that.

 

Morning & Night – The Best Times To Practice

Practice the 4-7-8 breath twice a day – morning and night – for best results. 

Over time, it becomes a natural, automatic way to reset your nervous system whenever you feel stressed.

 

 

Fall Asleep Faster With 4-7-8 Breathing

To prepare for a restful night – practice 4-7-8 breathing – it will help you fall asleep.

Or if you wake up during the night and you’re struggling to get back to sleep, try it.

Sleep medications often lose effectiveness over time.

 

This technique is subtle at first, but gains power with practice.

It’s like a natural tranquilizer.

 

The 4-7-8 Breath Is The Perfect Portable Stress Reliever

The 4-7-8 breath (also known as the “Relaxing Breath”) is the perfect portable stress reliever.

It’s :

• utterly simple.

• takes almost no time.

• requires no equipment.

• can be done anywhere.

 

Benefits Of The 4-7-8 Breath

• great for calming anxiety and racing thoughts in minutes

• fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer

• Reduce cravings and emotional stress

• lower blood pressure naturally

• recharge your energy during the day

         and so much more!

You’ll notice these after about 8 weeks of doing it and doing it religiously.

 

Use 4-7-8 Breathing As A Tool

• If someone cuts you up in traffic
• If someone says something too you that pushes your buttons
• You train yourself to do this before you react
• It’s a great way to deal with cravings for anything
• It’s most powerful for anxiety & panic attacks

 

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“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky.

Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

Zen Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh