How I Learned To Fall Asleep In Under 1 Minute
Sleepless
and Stressed
It
was the week before my best friend’s wedding, and my anxiety (nerves, plus
excitement) had reached epic levels. I wasn’t sleeping, to say the least. Part
of that had to do with the maid of honor speech I would be giving. I was
terrified and could not shut my brain off to fall asleep at night.
After
day three of lying awake until the wee hours of the night, I sheepishly
admitted to her that I was too nervous to fall asleep, and she—the bride, who
was sleeping like a baby the week before her own wedding—told me I needed to
try the “4-7-8” breathing trick.
She
happens to be a licensed wellness practitioner who studies meditation, stress,
and breathing techniques, and told me it would change my life. You simply
breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold your breath for seven
seconds, and exhale through your mouth for eight seconds. She explained that
the studied combination of numbers has a chemical-like effect on our brains,
and would slow my heart rate and soothe me right to sleep that night. “It works,”
she told me. “It’s crazy.”
How it Works
I
couldn’t wait to put the trick to the test, and to my complete disbelief, I
woke up the next morning unable to even remember getting to the eighth second
of the exhale because it knocked me out that fast. For the next four nights
leading up to the big day, even as my stress increased, I was able to fall
asleep the minute I tried the 4-7-8 trick. I also used it to relax in the
moments leading up to the speech.
When
you feel stressed or anxious, adrenaline courses through your veins, your heart
beats at a rapid rate, and your breathing becomes quick and shallow. So before
I get into the specifics behind how the 4-7-8 breathing trick works, I wanted
to explain in my own words what it feels like when you try it. To me, the
effect of the breathing technique feels almost like a sedative drug, because in
order to hold your breath for seven seconds and then to exhale for eight—when
your breath is so shallow and short—your body is forcedto slow your
heart rate. It has no choice. Holding your breath, and then slowly,
deliberately exhaling for eight seconds, causes a chain reaction. It feels like
going from a mad-dash sprint to a finish line to a slow, leisurely, calming
stroll through the park.
When
you first start, you’ll be desperate to just take in another breath, or you’ll
want to speed up your counting, but if you stick to the numbers (or at least
try to), and don’t take any breaks (in other words, consecutively repeat the
4-7-8 without resuming regular breathing), you can literally feel your
heart rate slow down, your mind get quieter, and your whole body physically
relax. It washes over you like a calming, relaxing drug. I can never remember
getting past the first set of 4-7-8.
Do
you know the feeling of being put under by anesthesia, where you are conscious,
and the next thing you remember is waking up? That’s what this is like for me:
As soon as I start the practice, the next thing I remember, I’m waking up in
the morning and can’t even remember beginning the 4-7-8 count the night before. Crazy.
Now
to the more technical details: People who are stressed or anxious are actually
chronically under-breathing, because stressed people
breathe shortly and shallowly, and often even unconsciously hold their breath.
By extending your inhale to a count of four, you are forcing yourself to take
in more oxygen, allowing the oxygen to affect your bloodstream by holding your
breath for seven seconds, and then emitting carbon dioxide from your lungs by
exhaling steadily for eight seconds. The technique will effectively slow your
heart rate and increase oxygen in your bloodstream, and may even make you feel
slightly lightheaded which contributes to the mild sedative-like effect. It
will instantly relax your heart, mind, and overall central nervous system
because you are controlling the breath versus continuing to breathe short,
shallow gasps of air.
How
it Can Work For You
Mindful
breathing practices have been a part of yoga and Eastern wellness modalities
for centuries, but aren’t as popular in Western culture. The most well-known
champion of the 4-7-8 breathing technique in the U.S., who is somewhat
responsible for the prevalence that the technique does have amongst integrative
medicine practitioners, yogis, and those in search of stress reduction and
overall relaxation, is Harvard-educated Dr. Andrew Weil.
Though
I’m not promising or claiming (nor does Dr. Weil) that practicing this
breathing technique can fight disease or provide clinical benefits, I can tell
you one thing: If it affects you like it did me, it will help you fall asleep way faster.
Not only is it free, it also works for a number of different instances. In
addition to using it to fall asleep in a pinch, you can practice it if you wake
up in the middle of the night and find yourself thinking about something you
have to do the next day, in order to fall back asleep;
if you are nervous before an event (like a wedding, or giving a speech); if you
are angry about something and want to calm down. My friend (the bride-to-be who
slept like a baby the week before her wedding), who gets nervous to fly, uses
it before flights and during if the plane encounters turbulence.
It
is now what I use to fall asleep every single night, and each morning, I’m
amazed at how well it worked.
Check out Dr. Weil’s site if you are interested in further
reading, and tell me what you think about this trick in the comments below.
Credits: http://www.byrdie.com/
