Uneven box breathing: 4 rounds for a grey day, after a difficult conversation

How it works

The pattern is a square — 4, 4, 6, 2 — and you trace it with your breath. Difficult conversations leave a residue. This is for the residue. Nothing abstract for the next few minutes.

Why it can help

Nothing here depends on you relaxing. You can be tense the whole way through and the pattern still works.

The pattern, in seconds

One round is 16 seconds. At the default 4 rounds this practice runs 64 seconds — about 1 minute — plus a breath or two of ordinary breathing between rounds.

Good for

• when you have read the same paragraph three times
• when the day has been fine but you still feel braced
• at the kitchen table, with a cup of tea going cold

Tips

• If you have a cold or a blocked nose, skip the holds and breathe through your mouth.
• If you lose count, start the round again rather than guessing.
• 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.