The Health Benefits of Box Breathing

Box breathing (also known as square breathing) may sound strange, but it can be a simple and powerful way to reduce stress.

Stress is impossible to avoid in this day and age. Even so, while a little dose of stress can increase your mental toughness and resilience, too much of it is actually detrimental to your physical and emotional health. Chronic stress can have a corrosive impact on your brain and impair your cognitive functioning. It can also cause or exacerbate serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety.

So, what can you do to keep your daily stress levels in check? As it turns out, one of the easiest and quickest ways to reduce your stress levels and calm your anxious mind is to simply breathe in and breathe out.

Let’s introduce you to box breathing; a technique Navy SEALs use to stay focused and calm in high-pressure situations, from rescuing hostages to conducting high-profile missions.

How Box Breathing Works

Box breathing is an exercise that helps you take charge of your automatic breathing patterns. It’s a deep breathing exercise that can heighten performance and increase concentration while also acting as a powerful stress reliever.

Box breathing has four equal steps repeated several times to ease anxiety and improve concentration in tense situations. Before starting, sit in a comfortable position with back support and your feet on the ground.

• Step 1: Close your eyes and inhale through the nose to a count of four. Feel the air slowly enter and fill your lungs.
• Step 2: Hold your breath while counting slowly to four. Just avoid inhaling or exhaling for four seconds.
• Step 3: Slowly exhale through the mouth to a count of four.
• Step 4: Hold the lungs in an empty state for four seconds.

Repeat steps one through four for at least five minutes or until you feel re-centered. For some people, it helps to visualize yourself walking along the sides of a square as you carry out the exercise, hence the name box breathing.

Box breathing is a quick exercise that can be employed anywhere at any time of day. If you find yourself short on time, you can box breathe for about two minutes, and you’ll find yourself feeling much better. Once you get used to the technique, you can choose to count to six or eight.

Why It’s Important to Reset Your Breathing

There are a myriad of benefits associated with box breathing. Here’s a breakdown of the most pertinent.

1. Beneficial for stress and anxiety

There’s no need to train as an elite soldier to gain the benefits of box breathing.

Breathing is something everyone does automatically. You’re simply not aware of the process until you actively choose to be. When you’re stressed, your body feels threatened and reacts similarly to a life-or-death situation. Your heart beats faster, your breathing quickens, and you may feel anxious and jumpy. Box breathing helps your body reset and provides a way for your mind to leave the fight-or-flight mode, making it an effective stress management technique.

As a result, this simple breathing exercise has a positive effect on your emotions and mental well-being as it helps alleviate feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety.

2. Reduces physical stress symptoms in the body

Deep breathing techniques interfere with the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Reduced cortisol levels means improved mental clarity and focus. Box breathing provides an opportunity to slow your breath and calm your nervous system. It’s a technique that helps lower your heart rate, breaths per minute, and even blood pressure.

Practicing box breathing can help you cope with panic and control hyperventilation when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

3. Improve your physical health

As mentioned, long-term stress can be highly damaging to your body and your mind. Most notably, chronic stress can lead to cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure and heart disease. Box breathing and other relaxation practices have been shown to alter how the body reacts to stress in the long term. This way, box breathing can help mitigate the adverse effects of long-term stress.

In the short-term, box breathing can help you sleep when you have insomnia which also helps to negate the long-term effects of sleeping problems.

4. Perform better

The Navy SEALs use this technique because it calms the mind and helps them focus even when the pressure is high. This way, they’re able to cut out all the noise in their minds and get the job done. You don’t need to be a Navy SEAL to increase your performance levels in high-pressure situations.

You can apply the technique in any stressful situation, from giving public speeches to meeting those short, impromptu deadlines.

Give Box Breathing A Try

You don’t need a designated time and place. Practice box breathing right now – you’ll only need five minutes.

p.s. – Does your life feel out of control? Book a free session where we can have a chat and see if we’re a fit for creating a life you love.