Uneven box breathing: 5 rounds for a hospital waiting room, when you need to stop thinking about work

How it works

The pattern is a square — 4, 4, 6, 2 — and you trace it with your breath. Work thoughts are allowed to be there. They just do not get to drive. Nothing abstract for the next few minutes.

Why it can help

The rhythm is deliberately unremarkable. Unremarkable is easier to keep up when your hands are shaking.

The pattern, in seconds

One round is 16 seconds. At the default 5 rounds this practice runs 80 seconds — about 1 minute — plus a breath or two of ordinary breathing between rounds.

Good for

• at your desk, with the screen turned off for a moment
• when you are tired but cannot afford to be
• on a train or a bus, with your bag on your lap

Tips

• A shorter pattern done consistently beats a longer one done once.
• The counts are a guide. If a number feels too long, shorten every side by one.
• If holding for the full count feels tight, drop every number by one. The shape matters more than the size.

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.