SLEEP HACK: Try This Breathing Exercise and Fall Asleep in 60 Seconds

Sleeping aids like earplugs, eye masks, sleeping pills could help you sleep soundly. However, these are costly for short-term solutions to sleep disorders and sleep deprivation.

Good sleep is one of the major health concerns in the 21st century as the need for being connected arises. 

Dr. Andrew Weil, a Harvard trained medical doctor, believes that a simple breathing in and out could help in fighting against stress, anxiety and even insomnia. 

He said that breathing  influences both of physiology and thought process. Concentrating your attention on your breathing without doing anything to change it can give you relaxation.

He has formulated “The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise,” also known as “The Relaxing Breath,” that could help you sleep in an instant. 

Regulating your breathing to have calmness and relaxation is adapted from an ancient Indian practice. The exercise is also described as a natural sedative for the nervous system.

How to do the “4-7-8” Exercise?

1. Sit with your back straight while learning the simple exercise.
2. Put the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth and keep it there all throughout the exercise. 
3. Exhale with the help of your mouth.  
4. Close your mouth and quietly exhale through your nose and count one to four in your mind.
5. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
6. Completely exhale with the help of your mouth to a count of eight. This already constitutes one breath.
7. Inhale again and repeat the entire process of three more times to complete four breaths.

Source: Read and Digest 

Image: Bala Herbs