The author of several bestsellers, Dr. Andrew Wil, who received his doctorate from Harvard, is a big proponent of practicing holistic breathing in the fight against stress and anxiety.
On his website he wrote:
"Breathing greatly affects the thought process and psychology which includes moods. If you just concentrate on your breathing without doing anything to change it, you can direct it towards relaxation."
Exercise "4-7-8"
It is about an unusually simple breathing technique exercise that amazed even the world-famous TV presenter Oprah Winfrey. It doesn't take too much time and consists of only a few steps.
1. Place the tip of your tongue on the tissue just above the upper front teeth and hold it there throughout the exercise. 2. Exhale all the way through your mouth with a soft sound. 3. Close your mouth and breathe in slowly through your nose and count to four. 4. Hold your breath while counting to seven. 5. Exhale completely through your mouth while counting to eight. Also repeat the sound from step two. 6. Repeat this cycle three more times.
Counting to four while inhaling helps those who are chronically short of breath to take in more oxygen. Holding air until seven gives oxygen more time to penetrate the bloodstream, and exhaling until eight slows down the heart and releases a larger amount of carbon dioxide from the lungs.
Bonus video:
