Wellness

I've found doing the 4-7-8 breathe popularized by Dr Weil as soon as I lay down at night helps my mind incrementally relax right away and then continue to lead towards my mind slowing down.

I've practiced it for stretches of time in the past and ended up stopping. This time I'm going to do the breath as soon as I'm ready to rest in bed so that it becomes part of my routine.

I've found doing the 4-7-8 breathe popularized by Dr Weil as soon as I lay down at night helps my mind incrementally relax right away and then continue to lead towards my mind slowing down.

I've practiced it for stretches of time in the past and ended up stopping. This time I'm going to do the breath as soon as I'm ready to rest in bed so that it becomes part of my routine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8fjYPC-k2k

A random walk down @safe ❇️ and open source tech research

The theory is that you train the nervous system involuntarily when practicing it twice a day.

> You change the tone of the autonomic nervous system. You decrease sympathetic tone, increase parasympathetic tone, the relaxation response. [2]

Healthline is a great resource and the long conversation with Dr Weil and Tim Ferriss. [3][4]

[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP9vY4NTRqE&t=3189s
[3]: https://www.healthline.com/health/4-7-8-breathing
[4]: https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/046f9e00-a81a-0131-c656-723c91aeae46/d2a9a915-fe31-48de-b729-afe5cd90f473.

1. 4 seconds: Inhale through the nose
2. 7 seconds: Hold
3. 8 seconds: Exhale through the mouth (Forcefully)
  a. Touch the tongue to the tissue behind the front teeth
  b. Purse lips outward
  c. Should make audible sound

Breath cycles
- Start with 4 cycles
- After 4 weeks increase to 8 cycles
- 2x per day
- It has more of an impact after 6 weeks of practice

To reach the 2x per day doing it 1st thing when I wake up  in bed is the best strategy since it only takes 76 seconds.

Maybe I’ll have to try this when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep