“Think outside the box!” This is a common suggestion for discovering creative and unexpected solutions to problems or challenges that you are having. However, my mindfulness teacher told me that some solutions are found by looking inside the box.
Box Breathing is one of several deep breathing techniques that can be used to improve the health of your mind and body.
What is it
Box breathing, also known as four square breathing, is a powerful yet simple deep breathing technique that is used to return breathing to its normal rhythm. It combines deep breaths with held breaths to help clear the mind, relax the body and improve focus.
Why Do It
Box Breathing is one of many deep breathing techniques that has a positive affect on the body. It can regulate involuntary body functions such as temperature, lowers blood pressure and provides an almost immediate sense of calm.
There are three areas of the body that Box Breathing affects:
- Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
- Blood CO2 Level
- Mood
We start with the fight-or-flight response of the Autonomic Nervous System.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
Intentional deep breathing can calm and regulate the Autonomic nervous system (ANS). These are the body functions that take place without any thought, such as our heart beating; our stomach digesting food and our breathing. These ANS system can be in a fight-or-flight or rest-and-digest state. Working to make the breath leave fight-or-flight mode, is good for both the mind and body.
In fight-or-flight mode, the body feels threatened and reacts to help the person escape or avoid a threatening situation. Among other things, the body releases stress hormones such as cortisol to make the heart beat faster, quicken our breath, and to boost blood sugar levels.
Having this state of stress activated too often, or for too long, has adverse consequences on your health. The physical impact of this state can cause wear and tear on every system in the body.
Long term stress can increase the risk of these conditions among others:
- High blood pressure
- Headaches
- Heart attacks
- Stroke
The ability to consciously regulate your breath enables your body to leave a state of stress and enter into a state of calm.
In addition deep breathing combined with extended holds has an impact on the CO2 level in your blood.
Blood CO2 Level
The slow holding of your breath allows CO2 to build up in the blood. This increase enhances the cardio-inhibitory response of the vagus nerve when you exhale and stimulates your parasympathetic system. This produces a calm and relaxed feeling in the mind and body.
This increase in CO2 in your blood coupled with the reduction of the stress hormone cortisol results in an improvement in your mood.
Mood
Box breathing can reduce stress and improve your mood. That makes it an exceptional treatment for conditions such as:
- Anxiety
- Panic
- PTSD
- depression
- Insomina
Practicing Box Breathing just before going to bed for the night can help manage insomnia and give you a full night of sleep.
In addition Box Breathing is effective in managing pain as well as producing a more positive outlook on life.
Now with all this good news let’s take a look at how to do Box Breathing.
How to do Box Breathing
This is a very simple technique to implement. There are couple of preliminary things to get in place first.
Get your body ready
First you focus on getting your body ready by sitting comfortable in a chair. Have your feet flat on the floor under your knees and your thighs parallel to the floor. Next insure that your spine is erect with your shoulders over your hips. Now, lift your ribs slightly creating space in your lungs and abdomen. Finally, place your hands comfortably in your lap and let your eyes close slightly.
Now that your body is ready it is time to focus on your breath.
Focus on your breath
During box breathing you breath in through your nose and out through your nose. You are attempting to fill your lungs to capacity and then completely empty them, so deep breathing is the key.
Now you are ready to go.
Box Breathing has four steps that are repeated over and over.
- Step 1: Inhale deeply for 4 seconds. Feel the air coming in through your nose and your chest and abdomen expanding as you fill your lungs to capacity.
- Step 2: Hold for 4 seconds. Pause with your lungs full.
- Step 3: Exhale completely for 4 seconds. Now let the air slowly leave your lungs through your nose. Your abdomen retracts while your chest shrinks.
- Step 4: Hold for 4 seconds. Finally you once more pause with your lungs completely empty.
Repeat these 4 steps as long as desired. Five minutes of Box Breathing is a good starting goal.
Once you are comfortable with this four part cycle you can add some refinements.
Some Refinements
You can add some details to improve the effectiveness of this technique.
Focus on your tongue as you breathe
As you breath-in lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Place the tip of your tongue just behind your front teeth. Leave your tongue on the roof of your mouth as you pause your breathe.
Once you start to exhale lower your tongue to your lower jaw. Once again the tip of your tongue is resting just behind your front teeth. Your tongue stays here as you pause your breath.
Develop an Inner Smile
While you are breathing deeply, lift the corners of your lips slightly. This helps your mind to relax and focus on your breath.
Eyes barely open
Let your eyes close slightly. This reduces the amount of external distractions and allows you to enhance you focus on your breath.
Visualization
In your mind visualize your breath moving in a square around your body.
- On your inhale draw the breath up the right side of your body from your hips to your ribs.
- As your pause your breath, move across your body from the right side to the left side.
- Exhale and let your breath descend down the left side of your body from your ribs to your hips.
- Complete the circuit as you once again pause your breath. Visualize your breath moving across your body from the left side of your hips to your right.
As with any technique there can be some problems to overcome.
Problems
I lose track of the time
Most of us estimate time poorly. There are several techniques that you can us to help keep track of the time.
I have used most of these techniques myself:
- a loudly ticking clock
- a metronome
- meditation music that has a one second beat and a 4 second chime.
There are several apps available for your phone that can help guide your through the phases of Box Breathing.
I tense my body when I hold my breath
Tensing your body when you hold your breath is a common occurrence. The key here is to become aware that you are tensing your body and work to avoid this.
- Consciously relax your facial muscles.
- Drop your shoulders down your back away from your ears
- Relax your abdomen.
Another technique that may work for you is to think of it as pausing rather than holding your breath.
I panic when I hold my breath after an exhale
Holding our breath after exhaling is not something that we normally do. For some people it causes them to panic.
There is an easy technique to avoid this problem. You change the duration of the exhale and skip the fourth side of the box.
In this case the box breathing is like this:
- Breathe in for 6 seconds
- Hold for 4 seconds
- Breathe out for 6 seconds
As you can see one of the sides of the box is missing. This is actually triangle breathing.
I get dizzy
If you’re new to Box Breathing, it may be difficult to get the hang of it. You may get dizzy after a few rounds. This is normal. As you practice it more often, you’ll be able to go longer without the dizziness. If you continue to get dizzy, stay sitting for a minute and resume normal breathing.
4 seconds does not work for me
4 second is a good starting point that works for most people, but is not for everyone. Adjust the duration of each segment of the breath until you find an interval that resonates with your body. If the duration of your breath is for 3 seconds or 6 seconds it does not matter, the key is to take deep slow breaths.
It takes me more than 4 seconds to exhale
A lot of people have this happen. There are two solutions to this.
- Exhale faster
Focus on getting the breath out of your lungs faster. However this approach may generate some tension and frustration and that is where the second solution may be helpful. - Exhale longer
Accept that it takes you longer to complete your exhale and empty your lungs. As a result this part of the box breathing will take you longer to complete.
Summary
While lots of gurus recommend that you think outside of the box to solve business problems, it is much better to be inside the box while you focus on your breathing and the healing that it brings to your body.
Next Steps
Ask your mindfulness teacher to help you establish your Box Breathing practice.
