4-7-8 breathing for sleep — 16 guided rounds

This is four seven eight breathing, the pattern people use to fall asleep. In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight, slowly.

Lie down or sit back. Rest the tip of your tongue just behind your top front teeth and leave it there. The out-breath goes past it, through the mouth, unhurried.

We do it in short sets, not continuously. That is how the technique is taught, and it is why the long exhale keeps working.

If this is new to you, do the first set only. Four rounds, then stop. Four rounds is the whole dose when you are starting out, and this piece keeps going without you.

Follow the circle, and let the count be mine.

That was one set. Four rounds. If you are new to this, that is enough for today and you can stop here.

If four rounds felt easy, stay with me. Let the breath go back to its own rhythm for a moment. Nothing to hold, nothing to count.

If the hold felt long, shorten the whole thing and keep the shape: two, three and a half, four. The ratio is the medicine, not the size of the numbers.

Rest again. You may notice the heartbeat settling, or a heaviness behind the eyes. Let it come. You do not have to stay awake for the end of this.

Let the counting go now. Breathe however the body wants to breathe.

If sleep is close, go. If it is not, that is fine too. Four in, seven held, eight out. It is always there when you need it.