4-7-8 breathing technique
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again. ―Thích Nhất Hạnh
👥 Serves: 1 person, 11-25 people, 2-10 people, 26-40 people, 41+ people
🎚 Difficulty: Easy
⏳ Total time: 1-10 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: A quiet place with no distractions
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Positive Emotion
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Breathing, Calm, Centring, Contentment, Focus, Mindfulness, Presence
4-7-8 breathing technique
📝 Description
A breathing technique to relax and calm down.
In a world constantly running, one of the wisest things we can do to boost our wellbeing is to stop for a moment. As Thích Nhất Hạnh points out in his book Touching Peace, “Breathing is the best way to stop – to stop unhappiness, agitation, fear, and anger.” Importantly, stopping does not mean we repress what is creating anxiety or fear; but it simply allows us to calm down and gain clarity to figure out our next steps.
The following activity has been taken from issue 21 of Flow magazine. This relaxing yoga-inspired 4-7-8 breath technique has been created by Dr Andrew Weil from Arizona in the USA.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Preparation
Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise.
Step 2 – Clear
Exhale completely and forcefully through your mouth, making a ‘whoosh’ sound.
Step 3 – Inhale
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
Step 4 – Hold
Hold your breath and count to seven.
Step 5 – Exhale
Exhale completely and forcefully through your mouth, making another ‘whoosh’ sound, to a count of eight.
Step 6 – Repeat
Inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths (steps 3-5).