Relaxing 4-7-8 Breath Technique

Do you ever struggle to fall asleep? Ever feel like your mind won’t shut off? This pranayama exercise will reduce your stress and anxiety, easing you into a restful sleep.

Pranayama means the regulation of breath. Though we regulate our breath every single second we are alive, pranayama exercises add mindfulness into each breath we take. There are several different types of pranayama exercises, but today we are going to focus on the 4-7-8 breath technique.

You can lay down or stay seated. If you are seated, sit up nice and tall. Place the tip of your tongue on the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth and keep it there through the entirety of the exercise.

• Close your eyes

• Exhale all of your breath through your mouth making a “whoosh” sound

• Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a mental count of 4

• Hold your breath for a count of 7

• Exhale to the count of 8 through your mouth making the “whoosh” sound

Repeat this process four times.

*If you have a sense of lightheadedness come over you. Stop the exercise and resume our practice at a later time. Always listen to your body. *

The 4-7-8 breath technique helps quiet the mind and provides a sense of relaxation and calm through the body. Like all exercises, it takes practice. You may not be able to hold your breath for a full 7 counts, that’s okay. You may not be able to do a full four rounds at a time, and that’s okay too. Keep practicing this breath twice a day and I promise you will begin to see a difference. Whether that is being able to fall asleep within a minute, or reduced anxiety during your day.

I use this breath when I struggle to fall asleep but also when I notice an overwhelming sense of anxiety come over me. For me, that usually looks like a shortness in breath and a scattered and zooming mind. I just take a moment and tap into the controlled breath and calmness returns.