How to use Uneven box breathing for coming down after exercise, when you are waiting for something

How it works

The pattern is a square — 4, 4, 6, 2 — 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 pauses are short enough that they rarely trigger the urge to gasp, which is what makes it usable in public.

The pattern, in seconds

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 you have five minutes and no idea where to start
• before a presentation, in the corridor
• at your desk, with the screen turned off for a moment

Tips

• Do it before you need it once, so that it is familiar when you do.
• Try it once with a hand on your ribs so you can feel whether they are moving.
• Never push through a hold. Coming out of it early is always the right call.

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.