Oct. 17, 2005 

Aging Naturally

In an exclusive TIME book excerpt, Dr. Andrew Weil shares his secrets for maximizing health and happiness--no matter how old you are

STRESS

Life is stressful and always has been. Eliminating stress entirely is not an option. If there are discrete sources of stress in your life--a relationship, a job, a health problem--you can and should take action to try to mitigate them. But my experience is that we all are subject to a kind of conservation law of stress. If stress recedes in one area, it seems to increase in another. Get your finances in order, and your relationship sours. Get your relationship together, and the kids cause you grief.

Whatever objective stress you have to deal with, you can learn to activate the so-called relaxation response, a shift within the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic dominance (the fight-or-flight response) to parasympathetic dominance (the heart rate slows, blood pressure falls and metabolism and immunity are optimal). You can evoke the relaxation response in many ways: by working on your breathing, practicing yoga, taking biofeedback training, floating in water or stroking a cat or dog that you love.

I have long promoted the benefits of working with the breath as the simplest, most efficient way of taking advantage of the mind-body connection to affect both physical and mental health.

Here's a simple relaxing breath technique you can try at home:

1. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge behind and above your front teeth, and keep it there throughout the exercise.

2. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.

3. Inhale deeply and quietly through the nose to a count of four (with your mouth closed).

4. Hold for a count of seven.

5. Exhale audibly through your mouth to a count of eight.

6. Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 for a total of four breaths.

Practice the exercise at least twice a day and whenever you feel stressed, anxious or off center. After a month, if you are comfortable with it, increase to eight breaths each time.

The obvious advantages of this kind of practice are that it requires no equipment, is free and can be done anywhere. It is the most cost- and time-efficient relaxation method I have discovered, and I teach it to all my patients and to all health professionals I train.