Making visualization work for you To enhance the effectiveness of box breathing, practitioners often use mental imagery. Picture drawing a square in your mind: the first side represents your ...

The box breathing technique is simple, accessible, and effective in helping you function better during stressful times, which, for so many of us, is most of the time.

Box breathing is a powerful and simple relaxation technique that can help to return your breathing to its usual rhythm after a stressful time. It requires you to breathe in, out and hold your breath.

"Box breathing is best for structured calm and emotional grounding," Dr. Lu says, adding that, "4-7-8 breathing promotes deeper relaxation and is particularly effective for falling asleep fast or ...

No wonder. Breathing is something we all have to do, and doing it well is associated with big benefits: a 2023 review published in Nature found that breathwork may be effective for improving ...

Equal breathing, or "box breathing," is an ancient yoga practice known as sama vritti pranayama. The name comes from the breath having equal parts and is a strategy Navy Seals use to stay calm and ...

I felt calmer Box breathing encourages you to take long, deep breaths. This is a slower pace than the way I usually breathe, where each inhale and exhale only takes a couple of seconds.

Like the 5-7-3 and box breathing exercises, it follows a specific pattern. To practice it, you breathe in for four counts, hold your breath for seven counts and then exhale for eight counts.

Still skeptical? The good news is that science backs up Kessler’s method. A 2002 study by the University of Oxford found that visualization techniques really do help people fall asleep faster.