But Andrew Weil, a Harvard-trained medical doctor who focuses on holistic health (basically, he's the sort of guy you want giving you sleeping tips) reckons he has a surefire way of getting off to the land of nod in just 60 seconds. It's all about breathing.
The technique is called the 4-7-8 breathing exercise, or the 'Relaxing Breathe', and its designed to promote good sleep.
Breathing strongly influences physiology and thought processes, including moods. By simply focusing your attention on your breathing and without doing anything to change it, you can move in the direction of relaxation. Dr Weil
It's really simple to do, and can be broken down
into four simple steps. It's recommended that you sit with your back
straight and place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue
just behind your upper front teeth, keeping it there if you can. If this
feels weird you can purse your lips instead, kind of like a pout...so
also a bit weird.
Anyway, here are the steps.
- 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 breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
If you are still with us then it's probably because you haven't quite nailed the technique. Keep trying until you feel relaxed. It's advised that you practice twice a day for two months to really master it.
The reason this supposedly works is because it helps silence the racket of preoccupying thoughts in your mind, and in the long run can really help with stress. To fully explain it, here's a video.
Now, get some sleep!
HT: wonderfulengineering
Image credit: Timothy Krause
