Do you need to set a boundary with someone and feel stressed? Do you worry about what might happen after you’ve expressed your boundary? Your heartbeat gets faster, your breathing more shallow, your mind races…you’re stressed and you feel anxious. It’s challenging to develop clear ideas on how to phrase your boundary when your mind drifts into the land of drama. This is the exact time to calm down your nervous system before continuing with your boundary-setting.

Today, I have a quick and easy tip for calming down your nervous system and returning to peace and inner-centeredness. 

Let me teach you the 4-7-8 breathing technique. It’s easy, quick, and highly efficient, and you can practice it anywhere without anybody noticing. (I promise—I’ve tried it out.) It’s one of the most efficient ways to calm down your nervous system.

The 4 7 8 breathing technique

The 4 7 8 breathing technique stems from an ancient yoga breathing technique called pranayama and was developed by Dr. Andrew Weil. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps your body and mind leave the fight-and-flight mode. It also lowers the cortisol levels in your blood, which is the body’s stress hormone. Other benefits of the 4 7 8 breathing techniques are lower blood pressure, increased emotional regulation, and improved concentration (to name a few). If you want to learn more about the benefits of 4 7 8 breathing, check this article from Choosing therapy:

Let’s calm down your nervous system & breathe:

1. Sit up straight. Breath out. 
2. Breathe in deeply for 4 seconds.
3. Hold your breath for 7 seconds.
4. Breathe out for 8 seconds.
5. Repeat for 4-6 time.

It’s easy. You can’t do it wrong. And it works. 

And now, think about how you’d like to set your boundary. How do you want to phrase and express it?

After that, punch in the keys and let me know how it went. I would love to know how the 4-7-8 breathing worked for you.