Box Breathing

Box breathing (also called “square breathing”) is a Paced Breathing technique to regulate and slow your breathing, which helps to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety (Zaccaro et al. 2018). 1

It has been popularized in the West by the efforts of US Army Ranger Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman (Brown 2017) as well as former US Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine, who began teaching this technique to other SEAL and Special Ops candidates in 2006 (Nazish 2019).

Technique

  1. Exhale to a count of four.
  2. Hold your lungs empty for a four count.
  3. Inhale to a count of four.
  4. Hold air in your lungs for a count of four.

Repeat this pattern until you feel more calm and relaxed.

References

Brown, Ben. 2017. “Box Breathing: A Tactical Breathing Technique To Stop Stress.” The Prepping Guide (blog). October 27, 2017. https://thepreppingguide.com/box-breathing/.

Nazish, Noma. 2019. “How To De-Stress In 5 Minutes Or Less, According To A Navy SEAL.” Forbes. May 30, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2019/05/30/how-to-de-stress-in-5-minutes-or-less-according-to-a-navy-seal/.

Zaccaro, Andrea, Andrea Piarulli, Marco Laurino, Erika Garbella, Danilo Menicucci, Bruno Neri, and Angelo Gemignani. 2018. “How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12: 353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353.

  1. While there is clear evidence that box breathing reduces immediate feelings of stress and anxiety, more research is still needed into long-term effects. ↩︎