Box Breathing: A Healthy Technique

Over the years, we have encountered many breathing techniques that help calm the mind and body, and are even capable of helping us improve our ability to fall asleep, concentrate, and restore the balance our body needs. If you have tried such breathing techniques in the past and found them beneficial, you will probably be happy to discover a new technique – box breathing – which helps improve concentration, reduce stress, and is recommended for daily practice when you feel your mind is starting to wander or your work is taking a toll on your mental health. How do you do it, what are its benefits, and are there people who should avoid it? We will answer all these questions and more right now.

How to Perform Box Breathing? 

Box breathing is done in 4 simple steps, each lasting exactly 4 seconds: 

1. Inhale – Sit with your back straight, ensure your feet are flat on the floor, close your eyes, and take an inhale for 4 seconds through your nose. Feel how the air fills your lungs. 

 2. Hold the breath – Count to 4 at the same pace as your inhalation. 

3. Exhale – Fully exhale the air from your lungs through your nose for 4 seconds. 

4. Hold the breath – Wait for another 4 seconds. Box Breathing: How to Perform Box Breathing

You should repeat this at least 3 more times (4 in total), and it is recommended to continue for 4 minutes or until you feel calm. If this is difficult for you, you can try counting for 3 seconds instead of 4, and if you find this technique helpful and easy to perform, you can even count for 5-6 seconds. 

 

Since this breathing technique is very easy to perform in any situation, people in high-pressure jobs find many benefits in it, including soldiers, police officers, and even office workers under significant stress. This technique is actually relevant for everyone, and anyone who wants to balance their mind and regain control and focus can use it. 

 

Why is Box Breathing so Essential for Mental and Physical Health? 

Box breathing helps reset your breathing, and in moments of severe stress, this is important for both your physical and mental health. Our body undergoes processes that we do not consciously control, like the autonomic nervous system, which determines, among other things, heart rate and breathing and even affects digestion.

 

When the body feels threatened, it enters "fight, flight, or freeze" mode, releasing hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline, leading to a chain reaction that causes the heart rate and breathing to become faster and also increases blood sugar levels. Prolonged stay in such a stress state can negatively affect health and wear out the body very quickly. 

Among the long-term effects, you can include: 

High blood pressure 

Headaches 

Heart attack 

Stroke 

 

We cannot directly control blood sugar levels or heart rate, but we can control our breathing, and calming it will affect all other body systems accordingly. Thus, box breathing helps us achieve control and balance, beneficial both in the short and long term. 

 

The Benefits of Box Breathing 

Mark Divine, an author and lecturer who was formerly a commander in the U.S. Navy SEALs, shares that this technique helped him in very stressful and challenging moments during his career. "I used it daily during training, and it helped me finish with excellence and in first place. Today, I use it in any challenging situation I encounter in daily life." Here are some of the benefits of this breathing method:

Reduces physical stress symptoms in the body

Research shows that deep breathing techniques significantly reduce the production of hormones associated with stress, such as cortisol.

In a 2017 study, participants showed lower levels of cortisol after deep breathing, as well as increased attention levels.

Divine also emphasized this. He said, “Box breathing bleeds off excess stress and gives you a handy, on-demand tool to avoid taking on any more stress than you can handle.”

Positively affects emotions and mental well-being

According to the 2017 study, breathing techniques can be useful in the reduction of anxiety, depression, and stress.

Improves future reactions to stress

Studies suggest that box breathing may have the ability to change someone’s future reactions to stress.

In an older 2013 studyTrusted Source, researchers suggested that relaxation response practices, such as meditation, deep breathing, and yoga, can alter how the body reacts to stress by changing how certain genes are switched on.

Genes have different roles within the body. The study found that relaxation response practices boosted the activation of genes associated with energy and insulin, and reduced the activation of genes linked to inflammation and stress.

According to the study, this effect occurs in both short- and long-term practitioners of these techniques. However, the effect is more significant in long-term users.

“Once someone experiences the physical, psychological, and emotional benefits of box breathing, they will want to do it daily.”

– Mark Divine

Tips for box breathing

 

There are a number of steps a person can take to make box breathing easier. A person can:

• find a quiet space to begin box breathing
• place one hand on the chest and another on the lower stomach can help
• try to feel the air and see where it is entering, when breathing in
• focus on feeling an expansion in the stomach, but without forcing the muscles to push out
• try to relax the muscles instead of engaging them

Divine recommends that a person incorporate the technique into their daily routine. He says that it can be used alongside other mindfulness exercises.

 He also believes that “box breathing can be used to prepare for a stressful event, such as a speech, or to calm down during or after a stressful event.”

 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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