Box Breathing for Beginners

How to calm the mind and lower stress in 16 seconds.

Hello Beautiful Human,

Today I want to share one of the simplest breathing techniques available, as one of many tools for self regulation we explore together here at the Healing Lab.

Box breathing (also known as square breathing) is a simple and effective breathing technique designed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

This will calm the mind and can lower stress. It involves breathing in a slow, rhythmic pattern with equal counts for inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding again. To serve all learning styles, I have included a visual, written, and video version of how to do this. Please choose whichever works best for you.

Before doing so, however, please remember The Healing Lab is all about honoring you. It is not about forcing or perfecting each experiment. It is about showing up and trying them. Here at The Healing Lab, showing up is success.

So, if you try this and discomfort continues to arise in your body and mind and discomfort grows into distress, wash the experiment down the proverbial sink. Choose YOU. That is the greatest act of healing above all. And, even if the experiment didn’t honor you, that choice always will.

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How to Practice Box Breathing

~ Find a comfortable position ~

• Sit or lie down in a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed.

• Find a posture and position that feels good to you.

• Once you find that resting place, honor the fact you are showing up today for you. Doing this — no matter the result — counts.

~ If you are a visual person, visualize a box ~

• Imagine drawing a square in your mind, with each side of the square representing a phase of your breath.

~ Begin ~

• Inhale: Breathe in deeply through your nose for a count of 4. I like to say to myself in my mind — Inhale, 2, 3, 4.

  • If you are a visual person, imagine tracing the first side of the box

• Hold: Hold your breath for a count of 4

  • If you are a visual person, continue to trace the second side of the box

• Exhale: Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 4

  • If you are a visual person, trace the third side of the box

• Hold: Pause and hold your breath for a count of 4

  • If you are a visual person, trace the fourth side of the box

~ Repeat ~

• Continue this cycle for 3–5 minutes or longer, depending on your comfort and focus.

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Science, Stories + Source Material

• Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal — a randomized control trial by Melis Yilmaz Balban

• Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health — A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by Guy William Fincham in Nature

• In brief, how does the nervous system work? — from Informed Health of The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care

• Neuroanatomy S1 E1: Intro to the Central Nervous System — with UBC Faculty of Medicine Professor of Anatomy & Neuroanatomy, Dr. Claudia Krebs

• The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s Brain Basics: Know Your Brain

• Brain Facts: A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System from the Society for Neuroscience

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That’s it from us this week! We hope you tread lightly on yourself today and hope to see you again soon.

Kindly,

Kate, Waffle + Tugboat

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Thank you, as always, for being here with us.

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This project is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical or therapeutic advice whatsoever. Although all experiments shared here are accredited by evidence-based science, if you choose to participate, you are doing so at your own risk. The Healing Lab, formerly Healing Out Loud and Probably Anxious, is Kate Speer’s newsletter. If you did not sign up for Kate Speer’s newsletter and are receiving this by mistake, apologies, and unless you care to join us (we’d love to have you), please unsubscribe so you can be removed from the email list.