Thread: Using the 4-7-8 Trick?

Oh yeah, I read about this the other day. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like it can help a lot with insomnia

I'm not a WILD expert, but in this case I don't think it would work. If you're consciously holding your breath, your mind "knows" you're still awake and therefore won't paralize your body yet, delaying the WILD process. I think this would work best after a WBTB to combine with MILD to ensure you fall asleep quickly for those (like me) who have trouble falling asleep after getting up.

Oh I get that now... I have tried it to fall asleep and it actually really helps. First time I fell asleep in like 2 minutes.

Very interesting. I will try it tonight to fall asleep fast. Usually when I fall asleep fast I've a WILD

I will try this next time I take cocaine.

Originally Posted by craiggarcia

I will try this next time I take cocaine.

Well after a half hour or it shouldn't be an issue lol

I tried the 4-7-8 technique and modified it more to my liking (it was uncomfortable on my neck sometimes with the hold and long exhale). I breathe in for 3 seconds then exhale comfortably while counting to 11. Most of the time I complete my exhale around 7 seconds. i can't find the site now but i read somewhere about a study that showed breathing every 11 seconds results in greater relaxation. This 1 minute thing is exaggerated for those of us who don't fall asleep easily or aren't completely exhausted... but these breathing techniques and breath focus really does work well and can really reduce the time it takes a person to fall asleep. For me it generally takes about 10 minutes or so before I am out. Once I start getting closer to passing out, it starts taking longer than 11 seconds for me to breathe again. Nice slow breathes followed by periods of not breathing have been the best way to relax for me.

It's a pretty good relaxation technique. Besides the general calming effect of breathing, I can think of two plausible reasons why it may help one to fall asleep. Firstly, carbon dioxide can induce sleepiness, so taking slower breaths where you hold your breath for part of the time allows carbon dioxide slightly more time to build up in your blood. Secondly, lowering your body temperature and particularly the temperature localized around your brain can induce sleep. Breathing more deeply causes a greater exchange of heat from your lungs to the surrounding air (by exposing a greater surface area), which cools your blood, and which then cools your brain. (This won't help if the air temperature is hotter than your body, but we're probably already aware of how uncomfortable it is to try to fall asleep in 99+ degrees weather).

I'd suggest you can further improve the calming effect by focusing on belly breathing. That is, in addition to all the other parts of the technique, you want to focus on letting your belly rise up and down as you breathe instead of your chest moving up and down. To describe it more technically, you want to inhale by only pulling your diaphragm muscle down toward your belly, allowing your chest cavity to expand motionlessly while compressing the abdomen. When exhaling, you focus on simply relaxing the diaphragm and letting weight and air pressure equalize your lungs without effort (you are not "pushing" the air out). If you breathe with your chest, you are using your back and side muscles to expand your ribs, which is a more complex combination of muscle movements that is not as conducive to relaxation.

Anyway, that's some science-y stuff for those interested in that. Will it help WILD? That's more dependent on other factors. If the obstacle to WILD for a particular person is stress and/or remaining awake too long, then this could help. If on the other hand the obstacle is falling asleep too quickly, you'd want to do something to the opposite.

Tried, but I personally find that regular meditation, if done lying, is better for me to get asleep.