Four, Seven, Eight - Relax!

4.7.8 or Relaxing Breath Exercise

The 4-7-8 breathing exercise was created by the respected integrative medicine pioneer, Dr. Andrew Weil. I have road tested it in the most stressful situations and it works.

Let’s Start!

• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.

• Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.

• Hold your breath for a count of seven.

• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.

• This is one full breath cycle. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breathing cycles.

Note:

If the breath holding is too long, speed up your count but keep the ratio the same.

Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently.

Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice.

![endif]--