“Just breathe.” Depending on how stressed you might be, hearing those words may not be well received. Enter box breathing! It's a proactive breathing exercise aimed to help you regulate your nervous system.
Box breathing is a common breathing technique used by Navy Seals, mindfulness practitioners, and recovery programs. During my time as the lead facilitator of the mindfulness group at the Veterans Administration, I would lead the group through box breathing.
If you can envision drawing a box in your mind, and follow your breath to the count of four, then you can do box breathing.
This week's podcast episode outlines what box breathing is, and I'll walk you through a brief box breathing exercise toward the end of the episode.