Box Breathing

Box breathing has been incredibly useful to me. Some days, it’s hard to calm the mind during meditation. Other times, I find myself needing a way to gain control of my mind while sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting for an important meeting to start, or driving. Box breathing provides more structure than focused meditation, keeping my mind from racing off but still providing the same benefits.

How To Box Breath

Box breathing is as simple as it sounds. Imagine a box viewed from the side- it has four equally sided-squares:

1. Breathe in through your nose while silently counting 5 seconds
2. Hold that breath while counting another 5 seconds
3. Exhale slowly through your nose, you guessed it: for another 5 seconds
4. With empty lungs, count the final 5 seconds
5. Go back to step one, repeat for 5 minutes

The How and the Why

Evidence has shown that box breathing can calm and regulate the autonomic nervous system, which runs our automated functions, like pumping blood and regulating our body temperature.

The slow breathing introduced by box breathing allows CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) to build up in the blood. The buildup of CO2 triggers a cardio-inhibitory response of your vagus nerve. A build-up of CO2 usually indicates that your body is working hard and using all of the oxygen available, so the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and sends signals throughout your body that everyone needs to chill out and stop burning so much energy.

The end result is a feeling of calmness and relaxation. This reduces stress and can improve your mood. Box breathing is an exceptional treatment for anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD, and depression. It can also help with insomnia by calming your nervous system before bed.

Box breathing is also effective at pain management. This works for two reasons: first, it calms your nerves, body, etc. Second, it takes mental focus to perform, which diverts your attention from the pain to the counting of the breath. After all, pain is nothing more than an electrical signal to the brain. So by giving the brain a different job, we can control the pain level.

Advancing The Practice

There are a couple of things to know about box breathing before starting:

• You may get dizzy. Depending on your oxygen levels, focused breathing may increase the level, resulting in feeling dizzy. This is ok. Over time, this will go away. When it happens, it’s ok to pause the exercise for a few breaths, then resume.
• You may feel like you aren’t getting enough air. Most of us don’t practice holding our breath; for some of us, even holding our breath for just a few seconds can trigger the fight or flight response for air. I encourage you to ride this out. It’s mind over matter. If this happens, focus on the following:
  • You know the next breath is seconds away. Nothing is preventing you from breathing
  • You can go 4 minutes without air. We’re just aiming for 30 seconds, so… chill. (Note: I didn’t say it would be a pleasant 4 minutes; I just said that’s the upper bounds of the physical limit)
  • This is mental training. Use this as the opportunity to command mastery of your mind.
  • Absolute, positively, worst-case scenario: what could happen? You pass out. What happens when you pass out? You stop holding your breath and start breathing. #problemsolved
• As your lungs get more efficient (you’ll notice this in your workouts), you can try increasing the count from 5 to 6, 7, or as high as you feel comfortable.
• For variations and taking the practice further, look into Pranayama Breathing.

Today’s Tasks

Don’t forget to complete today’s tasks for the challenge.

• Drink 1 gallon of water
• Workout for 45 minutes
• Read ten pages from your book
• Stick to your meal plan
• Meditate for 10 minutes, or 5 minutes if using the box breathing technique

Plus, the bonus cold shower challenge.

Once completed, head to the tracking site and mark them as completed to track your progress for the challenge. Tomorrow, it’s sleepy time.