4-7-8 breathing with a timer: one round in real time
Try 4-7-8 breathing with me? A ring on screen counts one full round in real time: breathe in through your nose for four, hold for seven, and breathe out slowly through your mouth for eight. All you do is follow it.
Watch on YouTube · SleepBetter channel · Sleep Tips & Sound Tests
Made with AI. Parts of this video are AI-generated (see “How this was made” below).
What it is
A timer, not a lecture. There is no voice: a ring fills and empties against a starry sky while short labels tell you which part you are in. The Short runs a little over twenty seconds so that one round of 4 + 7 + 8 seconds fits in real time, with a moment at the start to get ready (“Start when the ring moves”). It is one of our “Try this tonight” Shorts, which each give you one simple technique to test in bed.
Try it tonight
Breathe out fully first, then start when the ring moves. If holding for seven feels like a strain, skip the hold or shorten every count by the same amount; the long, slow out-breath is the part most people find calming. Three or four rounds is plenty, and stop if you feel light-headed. Our free 4-7-8 breathing pacer runs as many rounds as you like in the browser, and the voice-guided 4-7-8 breath meditation counts it out loud with you.
This is a relaxation exercise, not a medical treatment.
Why a timer helps
Counting in your head while you breathe sounds easy, but most people speed up, especially during the seven-second hold, and lose count after a round or two. Watching a ring that moves at a fixed pace takes the counting off your hands, so all your attention can go to the breath itself. Once you know how long seven and eight seconds really feel, it is much easier to do the same rhythm in the dark without a screen.
When you want more
If one round settles you, a longer wind-down keeps that calm going: our guided sleep meditation for overthinking includes a counted breath, and box breathing is a gentler pattern with equal counts.
Transcript
There is no narration. The on-screen text, in order:
Try 4-7-8 breathing with me?
Start when the ring moves
Breathe in through your nose (4)
Hold (7)
Breathe out slowly through your mouth (8)
How this was made
No voice. The starry sky is an AI-generated still image; the counting ring, text and soft pad underneath are made by SleepBetter.
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Free playerFree sleep sound player
Play white, pink, brown and green noise, rain and a lofi beat in your browser, with a sleep timer.
Free tool4-7-8 breathing exercise
A calm, on-screen pacer for 4-7-8, box breathing, cyclic sighing and slow breathing before bed.
Sleep videos and guided relaxation are for general wellness, not medical advice. If poor sleep is affecting your days, talk to a doctor or a sleep specialist.