Breathing exercise · 4 · 8
4-8 breath (4 · 8) for a noisy room, when you have already had a long week
Simple counts — 4 · 8 — and a circle that keeps time.
Follow the circle. It counts for you.
How it works
Breathe in through your nose for 4 counts. Then out for 8, slowly, without pushing. Long weeks are cumulative. This is a small subtraction. Simple things first: contact, weight, temperature.
Why it can help
The pause at the end of a long exhale is usually longer than you expect. That gap is part of the exercise.
The pattern, in seconds
| Phase | Length | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Inhale | 4s | 0s |
| Exhale | 8s | 4s |
One round is 12 seconds. At the default 6 rounds this practice runs 72 seconds — about 1 minute — plus a breath or two of ordinary breathing between rounds.
Good for
- in a hospital corridor, waiting for news
- when the weather has been grey for a week
- when you have read the same paragraph three times
Tips
- Do the last round slightly smaller than the others. It makes stopping easier.
- Keep the effort mild. If you can hear yourself breathing hard, slow it down.
- There are no holds in this one, which makes it a good choice if breath-holding makes you anxious.
Please note
If holding your breath makes you dizzy or uncomfortable, skip the holds entirely and breathe slowly and evenly instead. Never push through lightheadedness. If you are pregnant, or manage a heart, blood pressure or lung condition, check with a doctor before doing breath holds.