Millions of people around the world struggle to get to sleep every night, tossing and turning to no avail. It means many are willing to try anything and everything to have a successful night's sleep.
Techniques include everything from relaxing music and counting sheep, taking norvasc with cozzar to more modern methods like ASMR (people whispering or speaking softly in your ear) and spraying your pillow with lavender scents. However, there may be a more simple, sure-fire way of getting a solid night's sleep – the 4-7-8 method.
Those who have adopted the trick are often pleasantly surprised by its success, claiming it can take less than a minute if you just alter your breathing technique, according to MedicalNewsToday.
Dr Andrew Weil, a specialist in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona, revealed that the breathing technique originates from Indian yogis who utilised it during their meditation practices.
Dr Weil explained: "It’s the single best method that I’ve found for dealing with getting back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night".
The 4-7-8 method is where you inhale through the nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds before exhaling slowly for another eight seconds.
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Repeat this system until you begin to slowly drift off.
This method is known to help insomniacs, but it also has benefits for anyone suffering with anxiety, stress or even controlling and managing anger levels. It helps all of these things by forcibly slowing your heart rate down.
Dr Weil said: "The theory is that by imposing certain rhythms on the breath with your voluntary system, gradually these are induced into the involuntary nervous system.
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"And that comes with time. So it’s the regularity of doing this over a period of weeks, months, years that produces the changes that you want."
Dr Weil recommends using the technique twice a day to truly see the benefits, only completing the 4-7-8 cycle four times when first starting out.
Do not worry if you feel lightheaded when completing the technique, just make sure you are lying down when you first try it.
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