The technique can cause a temporary drop in blood pressure and lower your heart rate.

Stress is the enemy of sleep. Anything you do that reduces stress is likely to help improve your sleep. One American celebrity professor has designed a “fairly simple” breathing technique to instantly hit relaxation. The method labelled the 4-7-8 method has exploded in popularity in recent years.

The breathing technique – designed by Doctor Andrew Weil – is a way to instantly replace shallow breathing, which is associated with stress, with much deeper, longer ones.

The sleep brand Amerisleep, explains: “Breathing patterns play a role in our autonomic nervous system, which regulates heart rate, muscle tension, motivation, and other aspects of relaxation or excitement. Whereas rapid, shallow breaths can create a sense of anxiety, deep, slow breaths can be calming.”

How do you do it?

Place the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper teeth.

Exhale fully using your mouth making a whooshing sound.

Once you have done this, close your mouth and inhale slowly through your nose, counting to four.

Then hold your breath for seven seconds.

Next, slowly exhale out of your mouth for eight seconds, making the same whooshing noise from earlier. You may want to pucker your lips to do this.

But when you’re doing the method, make sure you’re sitting up straight, Doctor Weil explains on his website. He also explains that you should keep your tongue against the ridge behind your upper teeth throughout the whole exercise.

Doctor Weil writes: “This breathing exercise is a natural tranquillizer for the nervous system. Unlike tranquillizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it, but gains in power with repetition and practice.

“Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently. Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice.”

Researchers have tested the method in a clinical setting. One study, published this summer in the peer-reviewed, trusted journal Physiology Reports, looked at how 22 sleep-deprived adults reacted to the method.

It was spotted that after doing the method, the participants had lower resting heart rates as well as systolic blood pressure.

Systolic blood pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading. It shows how much force is put on your arteries every time your heart beats.

Past studies have shown that healthy people naturally see a drop in blood pressure of 10 to 20 percent at night – known as “nocturnal dipping”.

And a fast heartbeat is also a sign of high-stress levels. In stressful situations, your body releases adrenaline, which triggers your heart rate to increase. The more blood flowing around your body helps to prepare your body for action; for “fight or flight”.

The benefits of the method may extend beyond sleep.

The authors of the 4-7-8 breathing technique study concluded it could “be beneficial for patients with cardiovascular disease or pulmonary disease in terms of reducing cardiac work and enhancing blood oxygenation”.

But they also noticed that the function of the arteries seemed to be “lower”, which could pose a worrying sign, although more research is needed to fully understand the effects of the technique.

This isn’t the only technique that could help you get rid of stress and sleep better. The NHS recommends another stress-destroying technique: “Write down your worries.”

It says: “If you often lie awake worrying about tomorrow, make it a part of your daily routine before bed to write a list for the next day. This can help put your mind at rest.”