4-7-8 breathing: the relaxation technique that could save your (emotional) life

By Kimberly Gillan|

Ease stress and anxiety in just one minute.

If you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed, one of the best things you can do is take control of your breath. It sends a signal to the brain that you're not in danger, and you'll start to feel physically calmer almost immediately.

While simply breathing deeply in and out can work, it can be more helpful to have a structured approach that gives you something to really concentrate on and take your mind off the stress at hand.

Enter the 4-7-8 breath.

This technique calls on you to rest your tongue gently on the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth, then inhale quietly for a count of four through your nose, hold your breath for a count of seven, then exhale with a whooshing sound for a count of eight through your mouth.

Repeat it four times and you'll be amazed when you emerge feeling quieter and calmer.

"What's important is the holding part," Lana Hall, psychologist and author of How to Stop Worrying and Start Sleeping, told Coach.

"It actually flicks off the tap that is essentially pouring stress chemicals into your body."

Interestingly, the 4-7-8 breath has three specific effects over our stress levels:

1. The physical effect

"If something happens in the environment, you go into this fight or flight mode – you can't concentrate and your heart is beating faster," Hall points out.

"But if you can slow your breathing down it will slow down the other processes because most of them need oxygen to get going. So physically, you're telling your body to 'slow down'."

2. The concentration effect

"The fact the 4-7-8 breath is not a rhythm and you have to hold it for quite a long period of time distracts you from your stressful thinking," Hall explains.

"You really have to concentrate [on the counts] and it brings you into the present moment and calms you down."

3. The emotional effect

"This breathing technique gives you a sense of control – if you can do the breathing successfully you're going to feel like you're doing something to change a situation," Hall says.

"That feeling of being in control of one part of your life is going to make you feel you can manage the other stress in your life better."

A minute is all it takes  

When you're sucked in a stress vortex, it can feel like it will require weeks on a Caribbean beach to turn off the brain chatter. But Hall says techniques like the 4-7-8 breath prove that all you really need is a minute to change your hyperactive thought patterns.

"You find that no matter what technique you use to slow down your breathing, a minute is about what it takes to feel a difference," she says.

If you find it difficult to hold your breath for seven counts and exhale for eight, then Hall says you might like to start off with smaller counts.

"Normally I get people to start with three or four seconds breathing in and three or four seconds breathing out, then work up to holding your breath in the middle," she says.

"Then you work up to breathing out for longer than breathing in and once you're good at that, switch to something like 4-7-8."

RELATED: How breathing could be the simple tool to beat anxiety
