After a long day at work or studying (or both), all you want is a good night's sleep. However, that is not what sometimes happens. We wake up in the middle of the night, we feel like going to the bathroom, not to mention the nightmares that sometimes interfere with our rest. Along with all this, there is still some difficulty in getting to sleep as soon as we lie in bed.
For some people it's something simple, which doesn't make much difference, but for other people these discomforts are constant, making it difficult to get a well-deserved rest. A determining factor in these situations may be the way we breathe.
Imagine being able to fall asleep within sixty seconds. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? With just a minute, you can dedicate your brain to focusing on breathing techniques like the 4-7-8 method that help you get into a relaxed state of mind as it is similar to meditation like yoga.
How do
The American doctor and advocate of integrated medicine, which combines alternative and conventional methods, explains step by step:
“First exhale completely through your mouth, making a hissing sound (the kind you make when you ask for silence—shh—or when you pronounce consonants like s, c, ç, x and z in words like room, pasta, city, youngest, next, zebra, house, exact);
Then close your hands and inhale quietly through your nose, counting to four;
Hold your breath until seven;
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a hissing sound and counting to eight;
That was the first breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three times, for a total of four breaths.
Take care to always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale loudly through your mouth. The tip of the tongue should always be in the same position.”
Important: The most important part of the breathing process is holding it for eight seconds. This will allow oxygen to fill the lungs and circulate fully throughout the body.
Below is a video explaining how to do this exercise:
https://youtu.be/YRPh_GaiL8s%20
Text written by Bruno da Silva Melo from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
