The box breathing It is a simple technique that takes just a few minutes to relax, relieve stress and reboot your brain.
In addition to everyday concerns such as the pace of work, delivery times or paying bills, there is the risk of contagion from the coronavirus, which for some people is a authentic stress and emotional panic.
The pandemic is not over and the symptoms of Anxiety and depressive disorder still affect many peopleaccording to data extracted by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
He social and physical isolation can generate reactions of psychological stressHowever, in addition to loneliness, the worry of becoming infected, losing a loved one or the responsibility of caring for another person are also consequences of the pandemic that generate stress.
Given this situation, it is advisable to take a break and disconnect through strategies that reduce anxiety and stimulate positive thinking. One of these techniques to reduce stress is box breathing.
What is box breathing?
Box breathing is a technique practiced in yoga that allows you to relaxIt is based on a form of breathing that originated in India and owes its name to the fact that it is composed of four equal partsbeing very simple to perform.
His practice It has become popular as a result from an environment completely opposite to yoga: that of the Navy SEALsthat is, the US Marines, or the US Navy's Air, Sea and Ground Teams.
“It has incredibly ancient roots, with different techniques to calm the squid, provide energy, refine concentration and relax the nervous system, however, the military popularized it and made it widespread.”
Tal Rabinowitz, Founder and CEO of The DEN Meditation
As Rabinowitz discusses in Well and Good, “Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL who is also a martial arts expert, introduced him to the special operations community in the military, showing the world that, Just by breathing, you can achieve the desired calm in just a few moments.”
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How to do box breathing
As we have already said, box breathing is a very simple technique that can practice anyone and is based on the principle that slowing down breathing:
- Helps to relax
- Increases the amount of oxygen received
- Release tension
- Reboot the brain
This technique requires a few minutes and the steps to perform it are very simple:
- Put one on alarm to ring in 5 minutes.
- Sit with your spine straight, on the floor or in a chair, and your feet flat on the floor.
- Close your eyes and inhalecounting to four. As you do this, visualize the top side of the imaginary box or square.
- Hold your breath while slowly counting to four. Visualize the right side from the box.
- Let out the air of the lungs while counting to four and visualizing the bottom side from the box.
- Hold your breath for another four seconds and imagine the left side.
- Inhale the air slowly and repeat the whole process. until five minutes are up. In this way you make several turns around the square.
Box breathing is recommended to be done in the moments of anxiety or stress, but also periodically.
If the process seems complex or seems too long, you can start with a shorter durationsuch as three seconds on each step, instead of four. As you gain more practice, you can go increasing the time to five or even six seconds.
In short, This simple, easy and fast technique helps you relax, relieve stress and reboot your brain. whenever worries and emotional disorder take over our thoughts.
If you have questions, at our team of online psychologists helps you learn this and other breathing and relaxation techniques to control anxiety and stress.