A Powerful Breathing Technique

Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, I'm going to share a particular breathing strategy you can use in times of stress and anxiety and also if you're trying to fall asleep. It's called the four-seven-eight breath, and it was created by Dr. Andrew Weil. So I'll tell you what it is, and then we'll go through it together.

The four-seven-eight stands for the particular breathing pattern. So we're going to be breathing in for four seconds, holding the breath for seven seconds, and then breathing out for eight seconds. So the breathing in for four's actually relatively easy, holding the breath for seven can be a little tough and then breathing out for eight really requires that we slow down the breathing. So let's try this out and see how it goes. So we'll start with breathing in.

Ready? Breathing in for one, two, three, four. And now holding for one, two three, four, five, six, seven. And now exhaling for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Aah. So notice how you feel with that.

Different things can come up. Sometimes we feel very calm immediately. Other times we might feel a little frustrated, it was hard to elongate the breath for eight seconds, or maybe tough to hold the breath. So let's try it again and we'll see how it goes. We'll get a little bit of practice together.

So breathing in for four seconds, one, two, three, four. Holding for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And then releasing for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Hmm, nice job. That's the four-seveneight breath.

One thing I find helpful to help slow down the breathing is to feel as though I'm breathing into the back of my throat. So you can imagine if you were, you had a cold window and you were trying to create a little bit of fog on it, you might go like this. Haa, Now just make that sound with your lips. Shut. Hhhh.

What that does, is it constricts the airways a bit and should help release the breath more slowly. So this is something you can practice. You could do it in times when you're stressed, when you're overwhelmed right before bed, if you're trying to calm your nervous system. People seem to love this exercise, and it's very easy to implement. So have some fun with it.

You have another tool. I'll talk to you in the meditation. Until then, take care. Thank you for your practice.