Box breathing

Breathing is the remote control to the brain.

Breathing exercises can help calm and regulate the autonomic nervous system.

This technique is called box breathing because each time period for the breath – inhale, holding, exhaling, holding – is of equal length (like the 4 sides of a box).

Set a timer on your phone – try for 5 minutes to start. For just 5 minutes, try to focus entirely on your breath and the 4 sides of the box.

If you feel comfortable with this, you can increase the timer to try it for longer periods.

  • Inhale for 5 seconds


  • Hold your breath for 5 seconds


  • Exhale for 5 seconds


  • Hold your breath for 5 seconds


You can also use this animation to help you do some box breathing