Easy 4-7-8 Breathing Technique For Sleep
Recipe Key
Many of us have trouble falling asleep sometimes. What about those 3am wake ups? It happens. This simple 4-7-8 breathing technique is a soothing style of breathing that will help you sleep better.
Good sleep is one of the cornerstones of good health. Sleep is as important for our health as diet, movement and mindset. Having a good night’s sleep improves our mood, our physical and mental functioning, our metabolism and our relationships.
But, what can we do when we can’t fall asleep?
Sometimes we fall asleep easily and then wake up at 3am with our mind racing. What to do?
The 4-7-8 breathing technique, known as the “relaxing breath,” really helps. This type of breath work calms your mind and body. The integrative medicine specialist Andrew Weil MD made it popular in 2015, but it has ancient roots in the yogic practice of pranayama, or focusing on the breath.
Our sleep difficulties are usually because our mind is buzzing. The 4-7-8 breathing technique does not ‘put you to sleep,’ but rather it calms your mind and body to ‘increase the likelihood of falling asleep.’
Benefits of 4-7-8 Breathing
Calms Your Mind
The repetitive nature of 4-7-8 breathing provides a calming distraction to your racing mind. You can’t focus on your breath and worry at the same time.
Activates The Parasympathetic Nervous System
Your parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for relaxing your you body to keep you calm. It shifts you out of the sympathetic nervous system.
The sympathetic nervous system is activated when you’re anxious making you feel amped-up.
The 4-7-8 breathing moves you into the parasympathetic nervous system where you feel calm, relaxed, and content.
Changes Your Physical Sensations
The 4-7-8 breathing has been shown to decrease heart rate and blood pressure which puts your body in the right state for sleep.
How To Do 4-7-8 Breathing
This is a simple technique to help you have better sleep. This is how you do it:
- Get into bed or stay in bed if you wake up at night.
- Lie down or sit up, whatever is comfortable.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose for 4 seconds
- Hold your breath for 7 seconds
- Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds
Repeat gently 4-5 times
This pattern helps activate your body’s relaxation response, making it easier to drift into sleep.
Tips
Practice 4-7-8 breathing especially during times when you’re not particularly stressed, your body will actually learn to relax more easily.
Allow yourself to go at whatever pace feels right for you. As you get more skilled you’ll be able to slow things down for deeper relaxation benefits. The counting and the ratio of your breath will stay the same, but you can readjust the pace to your comfort,
The more we do this breathing technique, the more we allow our bodies to go into that parasympathetic mode.
I encourage you to try this breathing technique. You’ll begin to sleep better quickly!