A 4-4-4-4 breathing pattern—inhale, hold, exhale, pause, each for four seconds—shifts your nervous system from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. Repeat the cycle several times when stress spikes or after a scare.
Your breath is one of the main things that you can control at any state. And in fact, if you ever experience a significant accident, like a health scare, or you're in the hospital, whatever, one of the things they'll actually guide you to do is actually control your breath. So you'll just start with a nice slow breath. And one of the pathways I like to do it is just a 4-4-4-4 breath method. So it's breathe in for 4 seconds, just Hold for 4, 3, 2, 1. Release slowly through your mouth over 4 seconds. Leave empty for 4 seconds. And then you repeat it like 3 or 4 or 5 times. You'll literally bring yourself out of that sympathetic, frantic fight-or-flight state back into your parasympathetic state.
9 Powerful Tools to Regulate Your Nervous System (And Stop Living in Fight or Flight)
