The ins and outs of better breathing

Try this relaxation exercise from breathing guru Andrew Weil, MD, best-selling author and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona. The payoff? “Blessed relief” from constant thinking, Weil says.

• Sit with your back straight.
• Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge just behind your front teeth.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Inhale quietly through your nose with your mouth closed to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, this time whooshing to a count of eight.
• Inhale again and repeat the exercise three times for a total of four breaths.
  

  How to Improve Your Breathing

TIP: If you have trouble holding your breath, speed up but stick to the four-seven-eight count. Practice twice a day, but don’t do more than four breaths at a time for the first month; later you can work up to eight breaths. You may feel a little light-headed, Weil says, but it will pass.

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