Concentrating Calm: Box Breathing Supported By Sound

The practice of box breathing can be an essential tool for cultivating concentration, focus and calm in your life. In this practice, Davin will guide you through a series of practices, supported by a shifting chordal soundscape created only with his voice. The practice begins with a four-count box, moves on to a six count and concludes with an eight count. Prior experience with box breathing is advised and if you are pregnant this practice will not be best suited for you.

Transcript

Hey again,

It's Davin.

Welcome to this practice where I will guide you in box breathing as a means for expanding your ability to find concentration and cultivate calm.

During our time together,

I will be supporting you with my voice,

Which is breath manifest into sound.

I'll be doing so as your guide,

But also as your soundscape.

With only my voice,

I've created a series of pulsing and changing chords that will hopefully uplift and support you on this breathing journey.

Whether you're experienced or new to box breathing,

Here are a few things I'd like you to consider before we begin.

First off,

This is in no way a measure of how good you are at breathing.

In fact,

Do your best to set aside any need to succeed or conquer during our time together.

The truth of the matter is,

This practice is an opportunity to explore letting go,

Which may seem paradoxical because we're going to be talking about extending and controlling the length of your breath.

But think about it like this.

There are many,

Many natural rhythms to your breath,

And this is just one of them.

Your only job here is to explore this rhythm,

This pulse,

To use your ability to concentrate and focus on your inhalation and your exhalation because science tells us that it will help cultivate more calm in your life by activating your parasympathetic nervous system.

Second,

We call these practices for a reason.

It might take time and repetition to develop the skill and the ability to sustain your breath over the counts with which you're being asked to do so.

If at any point in the practice,

Things start to feel hard,

It's probably because they are,

So feel free to tap out,

Give yourself a break,

Reset,

Start over,

Or quit completely and come back tomorrow.

Maybe build up your endurance over a period of time of days,

Weeks,

Months.

However it is,

Listen to your body and listen to the ways in which this practice might best serve you.

Please note that if you are pregnant,

Box breathing is not an advised practice.

And if you are a trauma survivor,

Do understand that breath retention practices at times can be triggering,

So proceed with the knowledge and understanding of your unique experience.

Finally,

I've got you.

I'm here for you.

I'm going to support you in this journey.

So with all of that in mind,

Let's do it.

Begin by setting yourself up in a comfortable posture.

Whether you prefer to be seated or lying down,

The two most important things to consider are that your rib cage feels upright and expanded,

And that your lower abdomen,

Your belly can be free to also expand on your inhalation.

The breath we will be utilizing shouldn't carry with it tension.

This is not about gasping for air,

But rather settling into a slow,

Warm,

Expansive inhalation and exhalation.

We'll begin by doing this for four count increments.

We'll then move to six and then to eight.

The box goes like this.

You breathe in for one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And then you hold two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out two,

Three,

Four,

And hold two,

Three,

Four.

Just like that.

All right.

If you're ready,

Let's begin.

Breathe in two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe in two,

Hold two.

Breathe out two,

And hold two.

Breathe in,

Hold,

And breathe out.

Hold,

Breathe in,

Hold,

Breathe out.

Hold,

You're doing great.

Breathe in,

Hold,

Breathe out,

And hold.

Breathe in,

And hold.

Breathe out,

And hold,

And breathe in.

Hold,

Breathe out,

Hold,

And release the practice.

Good job.

Wonderful.

Take a moment to settle,

To reset,

And we'll move on to our six count box.

Breathing in for six,

Retaining for six,

Exhaling for six,

And again retaining for six.

All right,

My friend.

Here we go.

Breathe in two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Hold two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe out two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Hold two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Breathe in two,

Three.

Hold two,

Three.

Breathe out two,

Three.

Hold two,

Three.

Breathe in and hold.

Breathe out and hold.

Breathe in and hold.

Breathe out and hold.

Breathing in there.

Breathe in.

Hold.

Breathe out.

And hold.

One more time.

Breathe in.

And hold.

Breathe out.

And hold.

All right.

All you're doing wonderfully.

Go ahead and relax.

Take a moment to reset,

Recompose.

Allow your breaths to settle for a moment,

And shortly we'll move on to eight counts.

And let's begin.

Breathe in two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

And hold two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathe out two,

Three.

Breathe in two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

And hold two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

Breathe in two,

Three,

Four,

Eight.

And hold two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

And hold two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe in.

And hold.

Breathe out.

And hold.

Breathe in.

Six,

Seven,

Eight.

And hold.

Breathe in.

And hold.

And hold.

One more.

Breathe in.

And hold.

Breathe out.

And hold.

Okay,

Release the practice.

My friend,

You did so well.

So now,

Rest in the fruits of your labor.

Relax.

Enjoy.

Thanks for practicing with me.

Until next time,

Peace.

Reviews

Very calming practice. I could hear the smile in your voice.

Thank you for this. Your voice and soundscapes helped me maintain the rhythm and I feel more confident and focussed.

I am now I’m that parasympathetic state thanks to you so I can continue on with making our Thanksgiving feast in tense times🙏🏻♥️

I love David's voice and guidance. Easy to follow, encouraging along the way, beautiful soothing background music.

Davin, I can’t thank you enough for this simple, easy to follow, encouraging breathing practice. It has helped me so much to expand my lung capacity and breathe more deeply.

Loved it! I was listening ti your live show, but had to wind down not up! 🤣🤣 I will definitely be following you from now on! Thank you so much! 💓

I was noticeably more grounded and calm after. I trust I will take this clarity with me throughout my day. Thank you.

This is such a great practice, I really enjoy it.

Excellent, thank you !!! At this point I can only do the 4 breath cycle, but that's ok, when I started I could only do 2 breath holds. So I already see some improvements. I'm grateful to you for your teachings, thank you again. 🙏🙏🌲🌲🌲😇😇😌🕯🌎🕯🤗🌎🤗💚🌎💚🕊🕊🙋‍♀️

Devan , thank you for this gentle and effective breathing practice

Great practice. Davin’s instructions are so easy to follow. Feeling very relaxed. Thank you!

Excellent practice! The eight counts were very challenging. I will be adding this to my newfound breatheork practice. Thank you 🙏🏼

I really enjoyed the voice in the music and it really calmed me down right before a a special gathering I needed to attend.

Wow, that was brilliant...quite challenging and yet exhilarating. Thank you 🙏

Such a well done breathwork!
I loved everything; your guidance, the pulses in the background, the whole track was lit!

Thank you 🙌🏻💛

Absolutely fantastic. Thank you for this, I did it all with my nostrils so I'm pretty proud of myself, normally I'd do the exhale through my mouth. So yeah, proud lady here. Did it first attempt aswell but I have done box breathing before and I adore breath work meditations, I don't feel like I'm just sitting there listening to the same thing, I feel like I'm actually doing the work myself to calm/energise/focus/relax myself. Tysm. I'm gonna save it to my Breath Work playlist. 🧘🏻‍♀️💯🙏

A great introduction to box breathing, very supportive practice 💗

This is the meditation practice I've been looking for but didn't know it. I wasn't able to make it through all of 8 but I'm going to keep trying. This brought back a feeling of calm I thought I lost as a child. I was so in the present and the calm throughout my body was such a lost feeling that I missed. Thank you so much for this practice. I will definitely be doing it often. 🙏🤍

Absolutely beautiful. Felt a noticeable difference in my anxiety after completing this ❤️

Breathing in for 6 and 8 counts is hard, but I really enjoyed this practice! 😄