Breathing exercise · 5 · 5 · 5 · 5
Slow box breathing: 8 rounds for a big decision, if you are doing this instead of scrolling
Simple counts — 5 · 5 · 5 · 5 — and a circle that keeps time.
Follow the circle. It counts for you.
How it works
The pattern is a square — 5, 5, 5, 5 — and you trace it with your breath. Choosing this over scrolling counts as a good decision, even a small one. Stay with what you can actually feel.
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 | 5s | 0s |
| Hold | 5s | 5s |
| Exhale | 5s | 10s |
| Hold again | 5s | 15s |
One round is 20 seconds. At the default 8 rounds this practice runs 160 seconds — about 2 minutes — plus a breath or two of ordinary breathing between rounds.
Good for
- when the afternoon has gone flat
- before you open the email you have been avoiding
- when you are tired but cannot afford to be
Tips
- Do not chase the feeling. If nothing happens, nothing happened.
- If your mind wanders to counting the rounds left, that is normal. Come back to the numbers.
- 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 4-6 breath (4 · 6) for a hospital waiting room, when you have just finished work, How to use 4-7-8 breathing for a stolen moment of caregiving, when the weather has kept you inside or 3-5-7 breathing exercise for a break at work — when you are too tired to try hard.