Meditation and breath
Box Breathing and Quick Techniques to Calm Down Fast
Box breathing means breathing in for four seconds, holding for four, breathing out for four and holding for four, then repeating. It is one of several short breathing exercises that can help you settle. In a 2023 randomized trial comparing three five-minute daily breathing exercises with mindfulness meditation, the exhale-focused “cyclic sighing” did best for mood and breathing rate, with box breathing also tested.
How do you do box breathing?
The version used in the trial was simple:
- Breathe in for 4 seconds.
- Hold for 4 seconds.
- Breathe out for 4 seconds.
- Hold for 4 seconds.
- Repeat for five minutes.
If four seconds feels too long at first, shorten every step equally, to three seconds each, and keep the four sides the same length.
What is cyclic sighing?
A breathing pattern that puts the weight on the out-breath. In the 2023 study by Yilmaz Balban and colleagues in Cell Reports Medicine, participants sat or lay down and inhaled slowly; once their lungs were full, they inhaled once more to top them up, even if that second breath was short, and then exhaled slowly and fully. They repeated this for five minutes.
What did the trial find?
The study randomly assigned 108 adults, recruited mainly from an undergraduate psychology class at Stanford University, to five minutes a day for a month of one of four practices: cyclic sighing, box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation with breath retention, or mindfulness meditation. It reports:
- All four practices improved mood and reduced anxiety over the month.
- Breathing exercises overall, and cyclic sighing in particular, improved mood and lowered breathing rate more than mindfulness meditation.
- The authors’ conclusion: daily five-minute cyclic sighing has promise as a stress management exercise.
The authors note a limitation of the remote design: they could not control exactly how participants practiced or for how long. The participants were mostly students, and the box breathing group was the smallest, at 21 people.
When should you use these techniques?
Before a moment you expect to be stressful, such as a presentation or a difficult conversation, or right after something has rattled you. Five minutes is the dose the trial tested, but even a few rounds give you something to do with your attention instead of the worry.
If slow breathing or breath holding makes you dizzy or short of breath, stop and breathe normally. If you have a heart or lung condition, ask your doctor which techniques are suitable for you.
Pick one and rehearse it
Choose one, box breathing or cyclic sighing, and practice it for five minutes once a day when you are calm, so that it is familiar when you need it.
This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice; talk with a licensed clinician about your own situation.