Box Breathing
The power of the breath
Today I want to introduce a simple yet highly effective relaxation technique. It’s another great tool for your life toolkit to help manage stress, overwhelm and anxiety. A big thank you to a member of this community who requested this!
Our breathing is controlled by the brain stem and is part of the autonomic nervous system. Breathing is something we do without conscious thought. We go to sleep and continue to breathe, we go about our day and the trusty breath is always there. When under stress and the fight or flight response is triggered, breathing becomes shallow and more rapid. When we are under chronic stress our breathing can continue to be shallow. Most of the time we are unaware of this.
The good news is we have some control over our breath. We can use this to our advantage to infuence our state of being and our response to stress. There are many different breathing techniques available and what works well for one, may not work as well for you. I suggest giving a few different ones a try and find what works best for you and sticking with it.
What is box breathing?
Box breathing, commonly referred to as 4 x 4 breathing or square breathing is a wonderful way to reset, improve mood, relax the body, calm the mind and regulate breathing. It taps into the parasympathetic nervous system to switch on our ‘rest and digest’ response and calm us. You may have come across it in yoga or a pranayama practice called Sama Vritti.
You can use this in the moment, at times of high stress, overwhelm or anxiety. It’s a useful technique to do before something stressful like a presentation, job interveiw or exam.
Method
Box breathing is made up of four simple steps.
Breathe slowly and evenly in to the count of 4.
Hold the breath at the top of the inhalation for the count of 4.
Exhale slowly and evenly to the count of 4.
Hold at the top of the exhalation for the count of 4.
Repeat these four steps for 3 to 10 rounds or as long as feels good for you.
This process of 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 forms a square which you can visualise if this helps, particularly if you’re doing this technique independently of the video.
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Contraindications and precautions
Avoid holding the breath (steps 2 and 4) if pregnant or you have high blood pressure.
Use with caution if you have experienced significant trauma and work with a qualified professional.
You may want to avoid doing this immediately after eating.
Tips and modifications
You don’t want to be straining to do this technique. If you find the count of four too challenging, start with 2 or 3. You can lengthen to 4, 5 or even 6 over time as you become more confident and comfortable with the technique.
Another alternative is to omit the holding the breath and focus on the steady, controlled rhythm of breathing. Breathe in for the count of 4, exhale for the count of 4.
You may like to place both hands over the heart space or belly or one over the heart space and one over the belly as an additional anchor to your practice and the physical body.
Notice if there is any clenching of the jaw or tension in the shoulders. Unclench the jaw and allow your shoulders to relax on the exhalation.
Let me know how you find this technique and if you have other requests, keep them coming! You can email them through at simone@simonerussell.com or leave me a comment on my YouTube channel.
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