Breathing exercise · 4 · 4 · 4 · 4
Box breathing: 8 rounds for exam nerves, when you are waiting for something
4 · 4 · 4 · 4 breathing: 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. Waiting is dead time you can spend on this instead. Simple things first: contact, weight, temperature.
Why it can help
The equal sides keep your breathing from drifting into the shallow, fast pattern that stress tends to produce.
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
- when someone has annoyed you and you need to not react
- after an argument, before you decide what to say next
- in the two minutes after a difficult phone call
Tips
- Count in your head, or let the circle on this page count for you.
- Keep the effort mild. If you can hear yourself breathing hard, slow it down.
- A hold should feel like a pause, not like running out of air.
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 Physiological sigh: 12 rounds for a hospital waiting room, if you are sceptical about all of this, Coherent 6-6 breathing — 6 · 6 — for a stolen moment of caregiving, after a long day or 2-1-4 breathing: 12 rounds for Friday evening, when the weather has kept you inside.