Hello and welcome.
This 4-7-8 breathing practice is something you can use at times of anxiety and stress.
It helps to focus your attention on the out-breath and very often when we become stressed we go into a very shallow breathing where we're taking short sharp shallow breaths.
So by focusing on the out-breath it's helping the body to come into a state of rest.
The suggestion from the man who devised this practice is that you do this once in the morning,
Once in the afternoon or before going to bed every day creating a new routine for yourself and noticing the changes it makes in your body with the breath as you do it.
And then once you're familiar with it you can draw on it at times of anxiety when you really need to use this breathing pattern.
The suggestion is that you breathe in through the nose for a count of four,
Hold for a count of seven and then breathe out through the mouth for a count of eight until you've really emptied all the breath out of your body.
And as you breathe out of the mouth you circle the lips and quite forcefully breathe out as if you were trying to blow through a straw.
And then letting the breath flow naturally back in through the nose.
You're not having to worry too much about whether you're counting to the correct number of seconds,
You simply count so that you have a four,
Seven,
Eight rhythm.
You may find the first few times you do this you become a little light-headed so it's important to do this sitting down and away from any situations where you might become dizzy or where it may be an issue if you become light-headed.
Once you become more familiar with it then that should pass.
You're settling yourself into a comfortable position sitting down resting both feet on the floor,
Your hands on your legs or in your lap.
Taking a breath in through the nose and out through the nose.
Then breathing in through the nose two,
Three,
Four,
Holding two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven and out through the mouth two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In through the nose two,
Three,
Four,
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Out through the mouth two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In through the nose two,
Three,
Four,
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Out through the mouth two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In through the nose two,
Three,
Four,
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Out through the mouth two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And breathing naturally through the nose.
Noticing how you're feeling now after those four rounds.
And the suggestion is that to start with you only do four repetitions,
Four rounds.
As you become more familiar with the breathing pattern you can gradually increase this until you're doing eight rounds in the morning,
Eight rounds in the afternoon or evening.
So you take that into the laboratory of your life,
Trying it out and seeing how it feels to do this breathing practice.
