Welcome to this quick box breath exercise.
I'm your guide Adriene.
The rhythmic nature of box breathing can have many benefits including helping to calm yourself when experiencing overwhelm or panic.
It can help to calm your mind to prepare for sleep,
Bring you back into focus on a task when you get distracted,
Or you might even use it to help set yourself up for a calm day in the morning.
Box breathing,
Sometimes called square breathing,
Helps by lowering blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol.
You can practice this breath technique anywhere you're comfortable.
You may want to sit down or lie down but you can also practice this while standing.
So to practice box breath you will inhale for a count of four,
Hold your breath for a count of four,
Then exhale for a count of four,
And then hold again for a count of four.
And we can kind of imagine ourselves moving our breath around this square.
And then you will continue this pattern until you feel like you want to release it.
I will keep count for you but if it's too fast or too slow for you please feel free to adjust your pattern to a speed that works for you.
Now if you feel safe and comfortable to do so you can close your eyes,
Otherwise please find a spot ahead of you to focus your gaze.
We'll start by taking three deep inhales,
Feeling your belly expand,
And then as you exhale sighing out your mouth.
And as you continue to breathe please maintain this expansion of the belly with your inhales just to ensure you are activating your diaphragm and helping to get optimal benefits.
And we'll begin box breath for the next couple of minutes.
So inhaling for a count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Four,
Inhale one,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
One,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale one,
Two,
Four,
And take a natural inhale,
Keeping your eyes closed or maintaining your gaze,
Returning to a natural breath,
And just observe for a few moments here the effects that this breath work has had on your mind,
Your physiology,
Just observe,
No judgment.
Thank you so much for practicing this short breath work with me today.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day.
