Breathing exercise · 4 · 4 · 4 · 4
Box breathing — 4 · 4 · 4 · 4 — for a hospital waiting room, when the weather has kept you inside
The pattern is 4 · 4 · 4 · 4, which is four equal sides, like tracing a square.
Follow the circle. It counts for you.
How it works
The pattern is a square — 4, 4, 4, 4 — and you trace it with your breath. Bad weather is a decent excuse to stay in and do this. The body is the most reliable place to begin.
Why it can help
Because nothing changes from round to round, the exercise stops being interesting — and that is exactly what you want at a difficult moment.
The pattern, in seconds
| Phase | Length | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Inhale | 4s | 0s |
| Hold | 4s | 4s |
| Exhale | 4s | 8s |
| Hold again | 4s | 12s |
One round is 16 seconds. At the default 8 rounds this practice runs 128 seconds — about 2 minutes — plus a breath or two of ordinary breathing between rounds.
Good for
- in the minutes before an appointment you are dreading
- when the afternoon has gone flat
- at your desk, with the screen turned off for a moment
Tips
- If your mind wanders to counting the rounds left, that is normal. Come back to the numbers.
- Keep your jaw loose. People clench it without noticing during holds.
- Holding your breath is optional in every exercise here. You can always breathe through instead.
Please note
If holding your breath makes you dizzy or uncomfortable, skip the holds entirely and breathe slowly and evenly instead. Never push through lightheadedness. If you are pregnant, or manage a heart, blood pressure or lung condition, check with a doctor before doing breath holds.
If this rhythm does not suit you, try 2-1-4 breathing for the morning, when you want to be left alone, 3-6 breathing — 3 · 6 — for the morning after, when you are doing this for the first time or 4-2-6 breathing: 8 rounds for a noisy room, when you feel fine and want to stay that way.