Any veteran yoga practitioner will tell you breathwork is the reason they feel so good after a session on the mat. It's the secret ingredient for feeling calm yet alert.
The beauty of breathwork is that you don't have to be in yoga postures to do it and it can move you from anxiety-ridden to relaxed in just a few minutes.
The quickest way is arguably the 4-7-8 method.
It typically works in just four breaths, according to
Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, the integrative medicine pioneer who founded the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and brought the technique to light.
In fact, doing more than a few 4-7-8 breaths might make you feel lightheaded, especially if you're not accustomed to breathwork.
The 4-7-8 breath explained
The 4-7-8 breath works the same way other soothing breathwork does: It activates your parasympathetic nervous system and dampens your sympathetic nervous system, in large part by
using longer exhales than inhales.
Your parasympathetic nervous system is the branch of your autonomic nervous system that regulates your body’s ability to rest and do things like digest food. The sympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, makes you feel amped up, ready to go. The two need to work in harmony and at appropriate times to keep you feeling balanced. Breathwork helps with that.
How to do the 4-7-8 breath
Let's follow
Weil's instructions for doing the 4-7-8 breath, given he's credited with launching the technique.
Prep
Sit down
You can do the exercise in any position: sitting, standing, lying down. But it's best done seated with good posture: a “straight” back, which means the natural curves of your spine are in place (you’re not slumped).
Position your tongue
Place the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth right behind your front teeth. Keep it there throughout the exercise.
Clear the air from your lungs
Exhale completely through your mouth (around your tongue). You'll hear a “whoosh” sound. It’s okay to purse your lips slightly.
4-7-8 breath
- Close your mouth and inhale gently through your nose to the count of 4.
- Hold your breath for a count of 7.
- Exhale completely through your mouth to the count of 8 (hearing that “whoosh” again).
Repeat steps 1-3, three more times, for a total of four breaths.
The 4:7:8 ratio is important, so if you have trouble holding your breath, halve the counts (inhale for 2 counts, hold for about 3 counts, and exhale for 4 counts).
When to back off on 4-7-8 breathing or not do it at all
If you feel lightheaded, stop, and then halve your counts. If that's still uncomfortable, increase your inhale and decrease how long you hold your breath. This puts you closer to your normal breathing rate. You're not going to benefit from calming breathwork if it makes you panicky — a condition this breathwork is meant to assuage!
Don’t use the 4-7-8 method if you have
low blood pressure. Slow breathing
has been shown to lower blood pressure.
When and why to use 4-7-8 breathing
The 4-7-8 breath — and any calming breathwork — is immediately useful in moments of anxiety and stress.
But they all work better when you practice them daily or as close to daily as possible. You're more able to regulate your nervous system when you practice calming it on a regular basis — when you prime it, so to speak.
Here are three ways 4-7-8 breathing can help and why:
To temper anxiety, feeling stressed or feeling overwhelmed
Put simply, how quickly or slowly you breathe affects how anxious you feel.
Breathing slowly increases carbon dioxide levels in your blood, letting your brain get the oxygen it needs. This contributes to making you feel calm, yet alert.
To dial down feelings of anger
When you’re angry, your sympathetic nervous system — the fight-or-flight branch of your autonomic nervous system, recall — is firing on all cylinders. Your heart thumps quickly and your breath is shallow. The 4-7-8 breath can quickly make your parasympathetic branch, the one that slows you down, dominant. That lets you think more clearly. Slow breathing also
lowers cortisol levels.
To help you sleep
The 4-7-8 breath — and, again, all calming breathwork exercises —
activate your parasympathetic nervous system. The better regulated that system is, the
better your sleep quality and ability to fall asleep.
Bottom line
I won't claim to know as much as a medical doctor because I'm not a medical doctor. But I've
taught and done breathwork for two decades and started doing so many years before the 4-7-8 technique and a mainstream focus on breathwork became trendy.
To that end, if you need to destress or calm down, take moderate breaths wherein you exhale for twice as long as you inhale, pausing between your inhales and exhales if possible. Inhale through your nose, if you can, and exhale either through your nose or your mouth. Do this as many times as feels good for you. Generate your inhales by expanding your belly and lower torso, something commonly called diaphragmatic breathing.
Science shows you’re likely to feel relaxed afterward — and progressively, as you do it — 4-7-8 technique or not. What's more, following your own comfortable pace allows you to repeat calming breathwork rounds many times, and that’s likely to lead you into deep relaxation, not simply alleviate momentary anxiety and stress.
Mitra Malek is a career news journalist and former Yoga Journal editor. She's also a yoga instructor who has long used inhaling to the count of 5, holding to the count of 5 and exhaling to the count of 8 to usher practitioners into relaxation. It works like magic, but 4-7-8 has its benefits too.
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