4-7-8 Relax Breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing technique is a breathing pattern developed by Dr. Andrew Weil. It’s based on an ancient yogic technique called pranayama, which helps practitioners gain control over their breathing.

The technique can achieve the following:

• reduce anxiety

• help you to get sleep

• managing cravings

• controlling or reducing anger responses


How to do it:

Before starting the breathing pattern, adopt a comfortable sitting or lying position

• empty the lungs of air, breathe in quietly through the nose for 4 seconds

• hold the breath for a count of 7 seconds

• exhale through the mouth, pursing the lips and making a "whoosh" sound, for 8 seconds

• repeat the cycle up to 4 times

Dr. Weil recommends using the technique at least twice a day to start seeing the benefits sooner. He also suggests that people avoid doing more than four breath cycles in a row until they have more practice with the technique.

A person may feel lightheaded after doing this for the first few times. Therefore, it is advisable to try this technique when sitting or lying down to prevent dizziness or falls.

Recent changes:
- you can now select male or female voice for vocal cues