Box Breathing Techniques and Benefits

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Despite the somewhat exotic name, box breathing is a very simple and even familiar type of stress management exercise. If you’ve ever found yourself inhaling and exhaling to a rhythm while you run or listen to music, you’ve taken the first steps. Box breathing is a type of paced breathing that follows a certain rhythm, and it can help you tominimize stress.

How Box Breathing Works

Box breathing, also known as four-square breathing, involves exhaling to a count of four, holding your lungs empty for a four-count, inhaling at the same pace, and holding air in your lungs for a count of four before exhaling and beginning the pattern anew.

Other Techniques

Box breathing doesn’t carry the physicalbenefits of exerciseor the long-term mental andresiliencebenefits of meditation, but it definitely has its place as a stress management technique. For one thing, it’s very simple to learn and to practice. Also, it can be practiced virtually anywhere and anytime—when you’re showering, watching tv, or even working.

You can give it a try anywhere when you’re overly distracted or exercising so strenuously that you can’t talk through it. Also, you can practice box breathing for only a minute or two and experience the immediate benefits of a calm body and a more relaxed mind, or you can practice for several minutes and experience that plus the longer-term benefits of meditation, including increased resilience to stress, decreased feelings of depression, increased positive feelings, and more.

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What the Research Says

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of research specifically on box breathing, as this is a relatively new technique. However, there is quite a bit of research onbreathing exercisesin general, and on paced breathing as well , which is the category of breathing exercise this would best fit.

There is also research onvisualizationand meditation, of course, and the practice of box breathing can facilitate both of these. For visualization, simply imagine that you are inflating and draining a balloon with each cycle, for example. For meditation, you can add affirmation as you breathe.

Here are some study findings that may support the possible benefits of box breathing:

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How to Practice Box Breathing

Box breathing is exceedingly simple to practice. Simply relax your body and do the following:

Let out all of the air in your lungs to the count of four.Keep your lungs empty for a count of four.Inhale for a count of four.Keep your lungs full for a count of four.

Apps to Try

There areseveral appsthat can help you practice box breathing or other types of paced breathing for stress relief. What’s great about these apps is that they can add a visual element to your practice.

If you’re a visual learner, you can practice these breathing techniques with the app to the point that you really connect with them, then visualize what you experience in the apps even when you’re not using them, like in the shower or while driving. This makes it easier for many people to both learn the techniques, and enjoy them more. Here are a few of the top apps for box breathing and other types of paced breathing exercises:

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Malchiodi CA.Trauma and expressive arts therapy: brain, body, and imagination in the healing process.The Guilford Press. 2020.Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al.How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:353. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353Fontana D.Creative Meditation and Visualization. Penguin Random House;2012.Cho H, Ryu S, Noh J, Lee J.The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students.PLoS ONE. 2016;11(10):e0164822. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164822Priya G, Kalra S.Mind-body interactions and mindfulness meditation in diabetes.Eur Endocrinol. 2018;14(1):35-41. doi:10.17925/EE.2018.14.1.35Additional ReadingBrandani JZ, Mizuno J, Ciolac EG, Monteiro HL.The hypotensive effect of Yoga’s breathing exercises: A systematic review.Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2017;28:38-46. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.05.002Holt A.Mindfulness-based stress reduction and transcendental meditation: current state of research.Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews. 2015;2(2):64-68. doi:10.17294/2330-0698.1199

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Malchiodi CA.Trauma and expressive arts therapy: brain, body, and imagination in the healing process.The Guilford Press. 2020.Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al.How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:353. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353Fontana D.Creative Meditation and Visualization. Penguin Random House;2012.Cho H, Ryu S, Noh J, Lee J.The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students.PLoS ONE. 2016;11(10):e0164822. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164822Priya G, Kalra S.Mind-body interactions and mindfulness meditation in diabetes.Eur Endocrinol. 2018;14(1):35-41. doi:10.17925/EE.2018.14.1.35Additional ReadingBrandani JZ, Mizuno J, Ciolac EG, Monteiro HL.The hypotensive effect of Yoga’s breathing exercises: A systematic review.Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2017;28:38-46. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.05.002Holt A.Mindfulness-based stress reduction and transcendental meditation: current state of research.Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews. 2015;2(2):64-68. doi:10.17294/2330-0698.1199

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Malchiodi CA.Trauma and expressive arts therapy: brain, body, and imagination in the healing process.The Guilford Press. 2020.Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al.How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:353. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353Fontana D.Creative Meditation and Visualization. Penguin Random House;2012.Cho H, Ryu S, Noh J, Lee J.The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students.PLoS ONE. 2016;11(10):e0164822. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164822Priya G, Kalra S.Mind-body interactions and mindfulness meditation in diabetes.Eur Endocrinol. 2018;14(1):35-41. doi:10.17925/EE.2018.14.1.35

Malchiodi CA.Trauma and expressive arts therapy: brain, body, and imagination in the healing process.The Guilford Press. 2020.

Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al.How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:353. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353

Fontana D.Creative Meditation and Visualization. Penguin Random House;2012.

Cho H, Ryu S, Noh J, Lee J.The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students.PLoS ONE. 2016;11(10):e0164822. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164822

Priya G, Kalra S.Mind-body interactions and mindfulness meditation in diabetes.Eur Endocrinol. 2018;14(1):35-41. doi:10.17925/EE.2018.14.1.35

Brandani JZ, Mizuno J, Ciolac EG, Monteiro HL.The hypotensive effect of Yoga’s breathing exercises: A systematic review.Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2017;28:38-46. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.05.002Holt A.Mindfulness-based stress reduction and transcendental meditation: current state of research.Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews. 2015;2(2):64-68. doi:10.17294/2330-0698.1199

Brandani JZ, Mizuno J, Ciolac EG, Monteiro HL.The hypotensive effect of Yoga’s breathing exercises: A systematic review.Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2017;28:38-46. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.05.002

Holt A.Mindfulness-based stress reduction and transcendental meditation: current state of research.Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews. 2015;2(2):64-68. doi:10.17294/2330-0698.1199

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