The Best Fix for My Jet Lag Is Also the Quickest (It Works Every Time!)

I seriously suffer from jet lag — especially after a long-haul flight, even if I’ve managed to get a few hours of shut-eye. It seems like my jet lag symptoms seem to hang around for days. Even when I’m in an exciting new country, I find myself walking around like a zombie during the day, and being fully awake ready to run a marathon in the middle of the night. While the fun of discovering a new city or relaxing at a beach helps power through, I find it even harder to cope with jet lag after returning home from a vacation and trying to get back into my normal routine.

One day I told my friend Marieke Lintz, who happens to be a breathwork coach, about all of this over coffee. I complained that I felt drained and just not right, even though I had been back for multiple days, and she gave me three easy breathing exercises to try and soothe my symptoms. To my surprise, they really worked. Below, find out how breathwork techniques helped me beat jet lag, and the three best breathing exercises to use. 

When traveling through different time zones, the body’s internal clock needs to catch up to the new wake and sleep cycles at your destination or after returning home from your trip. Long periods of sitting on a plane paired with a lack of oxygen due to low-pressure plane cabins and dehydration often make jet lag’s symptoms worse.

Lintz explained that intentional breathing calms the nervous system and lowers the stress hormone known as cortisol. Holding your breath during a breathing exercise slightly increases carbon dioxide in the blood, which slows your heart rate. Finally, the simple act of counting has benefits too. It gives you something to focus on and stops your mind from racing. What I really like is that I can practice these easy breathing methods anytime, anywhere. I don’t need any special equipment or to wear workout clothes. These techniques are available whenever I need to calm down and reduce my stress levels.

 This classic breathing technique called 4-4-4-4 box breathing has become one of my favorites, and I do it not only when I’m fighting jet lag but also whenever I’m feeling flustered, nervous, and all over the place. (It just so happens that I’m all these things when I’m jet-lagged, too.)

For this breathing method, I visualize the sides of a box while breathing in for four counts through my nose, holding my breath for four counts, breathing out for four counts through my mouth, and holding my breath for four counts again. This completes one round — traveling along all four sides of an imaginary box. I repeat this exercise for a few minutes, and it instantly calms me down. It gives me space to gather my thoughts instead of letting anxiety take over. 

While the 4-4-4-4 helps me power through daytime fatigue, the 4-7-8 breathing exercise is what helps me finally drift off to sleep when I’m feeling wired at the wrong time of night. To do this exercise, I breathe in for four seconds through my nose, hold my breath for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds through my mouth. I keep it going for a few minutes until I feel my body and mind relax.

This exercise is my nighttime go-to — it helps me fall asleep without tossing and turning for hours before finally getting some shuteye. I call it the deep relaxer, as it calms me down to the point where I’m starting to doze off, no matter how confused my internal clock is.

For this exercise, I breathe in for four seconds through my nose and breathe out for six seconds through my mouth. It calms down my nervous system, and I always feel energized after a few rounds and ready to tackle whatever is next on my to-do list.

I choose this breathing method whenever I feel like I need to clear my mind and calm myself down during the day. A breathing quickie, if you will. This exercise is especially helpful after returning from a trip, when I’m fighting fatigue in the middle of the day. It’s like hitting the refresh button. 

In addition to these breathing techniques, I always make sure I’m drinking enough water after returning from a trip. If I can, I also try to get some exercise in, which can be a 30-minute walk if it’s daytime or a 15-minute stretch at night. As tempting as it is to take a long nap, staying awake when it’s light out and going to bed when it’s dark also helps me get back to my normal routine faster. Another thing I love to do in the days after returning from a trip is to visit a sauna. The warmth combined with a cold shower afterward relaxes me so much I get sleepy only thinking about it.

Even though it’s frustrating to deal with jet lag, it helps to accept that the body needs a bit of time to adjust after a long flight. So, give yourself some love and take a few minutes to breathe.