Hello,
My name is Maria Baltazzi and today I am sharing a breath technique that was made popular by Dr.
Andrew Weill and I love it because it has multiple uses.
You can use it when you need to take your stress level down a notch or two,
When you are fighting cravings,
Or when you want to go to sleep at night.
It is simple to do and can be done anywhere.
It is called the 4-7-8 breath and there are four steps to it.
Step one is exhale all the air out of your mouth and then close it.
Step two,
Gently inhale through your nose while counting to four.
Step three,
Hold your breath while counting to seven.
Step four,
Forcefully exhale all the air out of your mouth while counting to eight.
And all four of these steps equal one cycle.
You only need to do four breath cycles twice a day.
After a month,
If you are comfortable with this 4-7-8 practice,
You can increase to eight breath cycles twice a day.
A couple of other tips,
Keep your tongue resting on the area behind your upper front teeth where your gums meet.
This will stabilize the movement of your jaw,
Enabling a relaxed flow of breath.
If you are sitting or standing,
Keep your back straight with your feet planted on the floor,
Not crossed.
So let's do a practice.
So get into a comfortable position and exhale all the air out.
Close your mouth.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Hold two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And now just allow your breath to be whatever it wants to be.
The real magic of this breathing technique is in its consistency.
And when done regularly over four to six weeks,
You will likely see some wonderful changes in your body,
Your heart rate slowing,
Your blood pressure lowering,
And your digestion improving.
The real reason I love this four,
Seven,
Eight practice is that I can feel a sense of calm in an instant.
And that is because you are.
This breathing creates an internal sense of relaxation that becomes more apparent the more you do it.
So that is it for today.
Thank you for joining me.
The light in me sees the lighting you.
This is Maria Baltazzi.
