Box Breathing For Emotional Regulation
This guided session takes you through the practice of box (square) breathing: a simple process that helps to reduce anxiety. From there, it adds a visualization to further occupy and focus the mind. This session finishes with the introduction of a finger counting method that will give you the ability to take your box breathing practice wherever you go.
Transcript
Hello,
And welcome to the session,
I invite you to lay down or take a seat and get yourself comfortable and close down the eyes if you wish and take a deep slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Today we're going to be playing with box breathing,
Also known as square breathing.
Box breathing is a practice of slowing down and controlling the breath,
And it's one that works wonders if you're struggling with anxiety,
Overwhelm,
Or if you're simply wanting to calm down and focus the mind.
The basic idea is that you breathe in for four seconds,
Hold for four seconds,
Breathe out for four seconds,
And then hold for four seconds,
Repeating that cycle for the duration of the session.
If four seconds is too short or too long,
You can adjust your count accordingly.
So that's the basic box breathing practice,
Let's give it a try.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Okay,
So that's the basic process of box breathing,
But we can add or entrain a couple of things to make this practice not only calming for the body,
But also as a point of focus and as a way to provide some clarity to the mind.
The idea of entrainment is to put multiple things together in one,
And this is a good thing if you are doing a meditation,
Because if your mind is wandering,
And the individual practice that you're doing is not enough,
You might lose focus.
But by entraining,
We keep adding things to the practice,
Such that our mind can't help but focus on all of the things that we're focusing on,
And thus leaving no space for anything else.
So to this box breathing practice,
We're going to add a couple of things.
The first is the visualization of the box or the square.
So as you're breathing in,
You're going to visualize a ball of energy or a white light traveling up from the bottom left corner to the top left as you're breathing in.
As you're holding,
You visualize that ball of energy traveling from the top left to the top right of the box.
As you're breathing out,
You visualize that ball of energy traveling from the top right to the bottom right.
And as you're holding again,
You visualize it traveling from the bottom right to the bottom left,
And returning back to the starting point as you hold once more.
We're entraining,
We're combining,
We're doing multiple things at once.
The box breathing is slowing down the breath,
And thus calming the body and the mind,
And the visualization is adding an extra layer to the process,
Helping you to stay focused on what is arising in the moment,
Namely the breath and the visualization,
Thus giving no space to anything else.
Let's give it a try.
I'll once again give you the instructions for the breath,
But you will add the visualization in.
The ball of energy traveling up as you breathe in,
Across the top as you hold,
Down as you breathe out,
And returning back to the starting point of the square as you hold once more.
And then we repeat.
Let's begin.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
Out,
2,
3,
4,
Hold,
2,
3,
4.
Okay,
So now with our box breathing practice,
We are controlling the breath,
We're visualizing the ball of energy traveling around the box,
Or the square,
But we can add one more thing in,
One more entrainment,
One more addition to the practice,
To really help us focus,
To really help us stay mindful,
To really provide such a plethora of points of focus.
And thus with the breath,
Our body calms,
And with the points of focus,
Our mind calms.
The final thing that we can add to this practice is physical sensation.
Now this one's going to require a little bit of explanation,
So bear with me,
Because it's worth it.
Hold your hands out in front of you.
You'll notice that you have a thumb,
And four fingers on each hand.
Each finger that you have has three sections.
So you can point your thumb to the tip of your first finger.
Then you can put your thumb to the second pad of the first finger.
Then you can put your thumb on the third pad of the first finger.
And then you notice you can move your thumb to the tip of the second finger,
The middle of the second finger,
The base of the second finger.
You can move your thumb to the tip of the third finger,
The middle,
And the base,
And so on.
So in this way,
You have effectively the ability to count on each hand twelve cycles.
Four fingers,
Three sections,
Tip,
Middle,
Base.
And then you can move to the other side.
Four fingers,
Three sections,
Tip,
Middle,
Base.
Twelve plus twelve is twenty-four.
So you can count through the hands twenty-four cycles of box breathing.
This is important because it gives you the ability to count and do this practice wherever and whenever you are.
Twenty-four cycles of box breathing at sixteen seconds a cycle will give you approximately six and a half minutes of slow,
Calm breathing.
And that's often enough time to calm the body down,
Survive a panic attack,
Deal with the overwhelm,
And refocus.
And the benefit of this practice,
Doing it with the fingers,
Is twofold.
It's always there,
It's always available,
And you have the added benefit of the physical sensation.
You can feel your thumb and the tip of your finger touching.
You do a cycle of box breathing.
Then you move mindfully to the middle of the first finger.
And you do a cycle of box breathing,
Visualizing the ball of energy going up,
Across,
Down,
And returning with the breath.
And you mindfully move your finger to the base of the first finger.
So we're doing multiple things at once.
We're slowing down the breath,
We're counting in our mind,
We're visualizing the ball of energy traveling around the box,
And we're feeling the connection of our fingers.
The thumb touching each point of the finger,
And then moving to the other hand with the thumb touching each point of the finger in turn.
This gives us twenty-four cycles that takes approximately six and a half minutes.
But it gives us a way to practice without a timer,
With our own body,
And a rough estimate of how long it's going to take.
We're not sitting for some extended period of time,
We're not needing any setup,
Our body is with us always.
So it's a perfect response to anxiety,
Overwhelm,
And the need to focus.
So we're going to practice that just now,
Twenty-four cycles,
Using the breath,
The visualization of the square,
And the fingers.
We're going to begin with the right hand on the tip of the first finger,
And I will guide you to where your fingers should be.
First finger tip,
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
First finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
First finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Left hand first finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
First finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
First finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Second finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Third finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger tip,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger middle,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Fourth finger base,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Okay,
So to recap,
With box breathing,
You breathe in for four,
Hold for four,
Out for four,
Hold for four.
You can entrain or add to that practice the visualization of the box,
Going up as you breathe in,
Across as you hold,
Down as you breathe out,
And returning back to the start as you hold.
You can further add to this practice by adding the sensations of the fingertips,
Tip,
Middle,
Base,
Across both hands gives you 24 cycles,
And because it's with you always,
With the body,
You can take this practice anywhere.
I use it when I'm feeling anxious,
Feeling overwhelmed,
Or just wanting to find a simple way to practice without a timer,
Wherever I am.
I encourage you to give it a try,
And come back to this session at any stage.
Have a great day.
