This breathing technique

When they’re super-stressed

“As my children got older and school got more intense, their stress levels increased and it affected their sleep, so I taught them the 4:7:8 breathing method,” says Jyothi Rao, M.D., a mother of three and coauthor of Finding Balance: Empower Yourself with Tools to Combat Stress and Illness. The kids lie down and breathe in for the count of 4, hold for 7 and exhale for 8. “I tell them to breathe in through their nose and inflate their belly, then exhale through their mouth. This increases alpha waves in the brain, which bring a calm sensation. It usually settles the kids down in 5 to 10 minutes,” says Dr. Rao. “My oldest, now in college, still does this.”