Box or square breathing,
A technique used to calm your nervous system down,
Have a reset in your day,
Or move from anxiety to that calm,
Grounded state.
So the breathing sequence is all about breathing in for four,
Holding at the top for four,
Breathing out for four seconds,
And holding at the bottom for another four before you begin the cycle.
This breathing technique is also known as box breathing or square breathing,
So you can visualize a square as we move through this exercise and the different holds of breath.
Before we begin,
I invite you to get nice and comfortable wherever you are,
That's going to help to calm you down even more.
Whether that's sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Make sure you're as comfortable as you can be.
Make sure you can ground your feet into the floor if you're standing or sitting,
And gently open up your body a little bit,
Rolling the shoulders back and down,
Having your palms facing upwards or forwards if you're standing,
Helping to calm yourself down through your physiology.
And now just gently tune into the natural rhythm of breath before we go into the practice.
So just breathing in through your nose and out through your nose as naturally as you can.
Just calming down the breathing,
Calming down the body,
And tuning into this moment.
Whatever's happened before,
You can leave to one side,
So just be here now to come to the breath and anchor yourself.
And as you breathe in through your nose,
I want you to imagine filling your lungs with air,
Expanding those lungs,
And on the exhale,
Expelling as much air as possible and letting that air away and out of your lungs.
So we'll begin the practice.
I want you to breathe in through your nose for the count of four seconds.
Holding at the top of the breath for four seconds.
And exhaling through the mouth for four seconds.
Holding at the bottom for four seconds.
And repeating,
Breathing in through the nose for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold.
Exhale through the mouth.
Hold.
Breathing in through the nose for four.
And hold.
And hold.
Breathe out through the mouth for four.
And hold.
Breathe in through the nose.
Hold.
Out through the mouth.
Hold at the bottom.
Breathe in through the nose.
Hold at the top.
Breathe out through the mouth.
And hold.
Back in through the nose for four.
Hold at the top.
Breathe out of your mouth.
And hold at the bottom.
Breathe in through the nose.
And hold.
Exhale through the mouth.
And hold.
Repeat once more in your own time.
And perhaps finishing your cycle of breath now.
Tuning in now to the natural rhythm of breathing,
I invite you to just return to breathing in through the nose and out through the nose naturally.
Tuning back in to your natural rhythm of breathing.
Gently noticing how you feel now compared to at the start of this exercise.
Perhaps you'll breathe a little bit more deeply throughout the rest of your day.
Hopefully you have a little bit more energy,
You feel more grounded,
A little bit calmer,
Ready to move in to whatever's next.
Box breathing is something that you can have in your toolkit whenever you need it.
As a helpful reminder you can visualise a box or a square as you do the counts.
So remember that if that helps to practice this breathing technique.
So gently move out of this practice,
Opening the eyes gradually,
Moving the hands,
The toes and slowly if you can move in to whatever's coming up next.
