Being hungry & sleepy is not a nice thing to go through when you’re trying to sleep to no avail.
Have you ever gone to bed hoping to sleep early, but you end up using your phone… Till the wee hours and your stomach starts to growl?
You can’t eat because it’s too late or you’re dieting and have to stop eating after 7pm.
Or…
You have an exam or your wedding is tomorrow (pretty unlikely for you to be reading this now though) and you just can’t stop thinking about it. All the nervousness is making it so hard for you to catch up on that beauty sleep.
Read my previous Info Monday post: Two Essential Makeup Tools for a Beginner
Then have you heard of the 4-7-8 breathing method?
If not, let me give you a short description of what it is about from LiveStrong:
A study published in the January 2014 “Journal of Diagnostic Research” linked both fast and slow types of pranayama to reduced stress and improved cognition, including attention, retention as well as speed in tasks that merge vision and physical action, such as playing video games.
Several types of breathing exercises can be considered pranayama, including breathing techniques used in yoga and the 4-7-8 breathing exercise.Jonathan Thompson
The first time I came across it…
Was through a Facebook post that was shared by one of my friends. The title was similar to the title of this post in which you’re reading now except that it didn’t include Hungry. Ironically, I was reading it at night while lying on the bed. (Bad habit, by the way. But we all do it anyway haha)
The first time I tried it was that very night. You know, being skeptical of something that says you can sleep within 30 seconds, I can’t NOT try it, right?
So I did and I fell asleep within 30 seconds to 1 minute! I really don’t know how I did that but when I woke up in the morning, I remember falling asleep really fast.
No tossing and turning at all.
But sadly, that was the only night where I took such a short time to sleep.
Even then, it did help me sleep better the night before any jittery events because this breathing method calmed me down.
Now, about the ‘Hungry’ part
It was never mentioned that this breathing method helped with it.
Well, I decided to try it when I was hungry and sleepy, guess what?
It worked. Whenever I did this 4-7-8 breathing method, my stomach stopped growling and kept quiet. Like as though it thinks I’m sleeping.
As long as I did it consecutively, it was like I was never hungry. Amazing, isn’t it?
The bad thing is, it did not work for me when I couldn’t sleep due to caffeine. 🙁 (AH the thoughts of those nights trying to sleep is torturing me now)
A warning:
Do not abuse this breathing technique by using it to avoid eating and to lose weight. It may delay the time you need to have a meal but not if you’re outside doing some activities.
Btw, this breathing method might make you sleepier so don’t do it too much at work either haha.
I suppose you’re interested enough now to know how this works haha.
How do you do the 4-7-8 breathing method?
Firstly, in the LiveStrong article I mentioned above, it stated to sit up straight in a comfortable position but I don’t think it really matters as long as you’re comfortable. And you also have to place the tip of your tongue right behind the upper front row of your teeth. (Although I don’t do it)
Do it even when you’re on the bed, like how I do it!
Next, the 4-7-8 actually represents the seconds of each action.
4, is to breathe in for 4 seconds through your nose.
7, is to hold your breath for 7 seconds.
8, is to breathe out through your mouth for 8 seconds, shape your mouth like an ‘O’ shape and make a hooooooo sound.
Easy, right? It’s so simple yet not many people are aware of this. There are apparently benefits to this, though more research is still needed.
Repeat 2-4 times. When you do it daily, you can slowly increase the number of times you can do.
However, if you have any medical conditions that involve trauma or psychiatric conditions, you should consult your doctor first.
There have been cases of people whose health conditions worsen due to these techniques.
Lastly, if you don’t have the above issues, try it!
It may not work for you but there’s no harm trying it.
Let me know in the comments whether you’ve tried it and it worked for you. You can also reach me through my social media (IG: @beautybeyondtwenty / Twitter: @beautybeyond20). Share this post with your friends if they have trouble sleeping too!
With ????,
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Omg I need to try this! I have sleeping issues every night, mostly because my brain is just too active! Thank you for doing the research behind the method too! ????????
Haha I do it almost everyday when I’m trying to sleep too (when I remember about it, that is). You’re welcome, Chenoa! Thanks for stopping by ☺️