Hello,
My name is Sam and welcome to this box breathing meditation to help you deal with stress.
Also known as square breathing,
This technique helps slow down your breath and works by distracting your mind as you count the breaths in and out.
This calms your nervous system and decreases the levels of cortisol in your body,
Thereby reducing stress.
Anyone can practice this technique and it's useful in stressful situations when you want to re-center yourself or improve concentration.
So let's begin by finding a quiet place where you can relax undisturbed for a little while.
Feel free to sit or lie down,
Whichever feels best for you today.
Start by becoming aware of your body,
How it's feeling and any sensations that arise.
Allow yourself to relax any muscles you discover are still holding on.
You can soften your shoulders down away from the ears,
Relax your legs and slacken your jaw.
Allow the surface that you're upon to completely support you.
Now take a big deep breath in through your nose and sigh the breath out through the mouth.
Feel a sense of relief as you exhale.
You might like to do that again and notice how when you breathe out your body surrenders a little more.
Relax your mouth and throat as you do this.
If your eyes are starting to feel a bit heavy it's fine to close them and take a moment to notice how good it feels to be still.
Gently turn your attention to your breath and take a few moments to just observe it.
There's no need to make any changes now.
Notice where the breath travels to in your body.
Is it higher up in the chest or perhaps it's reaching down into the belly?
In the exercise we're about to do we're going to try and breathe deep into the belly.
If this is something you're not accustomed to doing,
In the beginning try pressing or doming the belly outwards as you inhale.
Let's begin the pattern.
We're going to inhale for four counts.
So breathing in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now hold the breath for four counts.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Release the breath for four counts.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And pause or hold this state for four more counts.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Let's try that again.
Breathing in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now continue to practice this but use a pace that works for you.
You might like to count a little quicker or a little slower.
And remember it's four counts for each phase of our box shaped breath.
As you continue to practice this technique,
Notice how your body is responding.
The system's slowing down,
The blood pressure decreases and you may even feel a little cooler.
Let's complete one more full cycle.
Allow your breathing to return to its own natural rhythm.
We can let go of all control.
Box breathing is useful in many situations such as when you're feeling overwhelmed,
When you're stressed or anxious and even when you're finding it difficult to fall asleep.
And the best thing about it is that you can do it anywhere.
Let's enjoy a few more moments of calm.
When the time feels right,
Gently open your eyes and take a moment to adjust to the light in the room.
Slowly and carefully make your way back into your day.
And remember this technique of box breathing can be used anywhere and it can be done for a couple of minutes or more and will have immediate benefits to your state of well-being and stress.
Have a great day.
I wish you all the best.
