Box Breathing Technique – A Beneficial Requisite For Stress Management

Stress is aligning itself into our daily life and digging its way deeper into our lives, isn’t it? You’d be surprised to know that while box breathing is a quintessential remedy for this issue, it is not necessarily what many of us tend to opt for.

Knowing the box breathing benefits can be a lot effective in persuading you to do better. If you have been struggling along to master this technique, we have got your back.

By the end of this article, you will have a fair share of knowledge when it comes to the box breathing exercises for anxiety and stress along with the benefits it imposes on our health.

What is Box Breathing?

Box breathing is a breathing and meditating technique, also known as square breathing which includes inhalation of deep and gradual breathing followed by holding it in and exhaling.

It is also often termed as four-square breathing and has been found to have beneficial impacts in boosting and heightening the concentration while also helping in relieving the overall stress from the body.

The process does require for you to channel your concentration better and in a constructive way to help achieve the goals with stress management as well as anxiety.

How Does Box Breathing Work?

Stress and anxiety project our body to a situation of fight or flight which is one of the primary reasons why it is important to manage and control your breathing to help regulate the process of stress management.

Box breathing benefits the body to help manage the condition of fight or flight of the body altogether. Resetting the breathing pattern and helping manage the state of mind, as well as body, is very important and effective in managing the levels of stress in the body.

The autonomic nervous system in our body is the one responsible for handling our responses, especially when it comes to the condition of fight or flight. The body tends to feel more threatened during that condition, thus making the body lack the proper functioning of the body.

The condition does have impacts in making the heart beat faster and even end up causing a spike in the blood sugar levels in the body.

Projecting our body to such conditions for an extended period of time does have the possibility of ending up causing issues, especially affecting the major organs in the body.

The regulation of breathing with the box breathing technique actually does help in bringing back the normal functioning of the body, thus helping in boosting the overall functions of the body.

It is very important to know your way around with this specific remedy because of the fact that it does impose better functions altogether.

How To Do Box Breathing?

The process of box breathing isn’t rocket science and is quite easy to do and master.

For the box breathing tips for beginners, we will walk you through each of the step to help you gain better knowledge and insight about the same for better results.

In order to walk you through the process, we are going to be sharing the steps involved. Let’s get going, shall we?

Step – 1: Start With Slow Exhalation

via Gfycat

• For the first step, sit upright and bring about consciousness in your mind.
• Once done, start by slowly exhaling through your mouth, working it out to ensure that you get all the oxygen out of the lungs completely.
• It is very important to be conscious through the process, knowing your intentions through the process.

Step – 2: Follow it up with Slow Inhalation

• The next step is to focus on the inhalation process altogether. This is crucial to take account for.
• Inhale deeply through your nose till the count of four. Make sure that you do count back in your head to avoid any issues whatsoever.
• Concentrate on feeling your lungs get filled into the brim until the air passes on till the abdomen

Step – 3: Hold Your Breath

• Next in the process is to get on to hold your breath for a similar headcount of four
• Be very cautious of counting the correct amount because that is what makes all the difference
• Maintaining the count thoroughly is what makes all the difference in the long run

Step – 4: End it With Exhalation

• The last step in the process is to exhale the inhaled air that has infiltrated through your body
• Exhale through your mouth while counting till four up in your head
• This helps in expelling out the air from the lungs and the abdomen altogether and it is important for you to be very conscious of the process of feeling the air leave your lungs

Step – 5: Hold Your breath

• The last step in the process is to resume holding your breath in
• Make sure to count till four in your head
• Once done, repeat the process all over again

Benefits of Box Breathing

You might not realize this but the benefits of box breathing are quite extensive, especially for people who have been consistently suffering from the condition of stress and anxiety altogether.

All of the benefits and the impacts come down to how well you are doing it and adhering to the original process without mucking it all up.

It is very important to ensure that you follow the steps through and even get the count correctly because it does play quite a crucial role altogether.

Let us take a look at some of the box breathing benefits, shall we?

Improves Physical Symptoms of Stress

Irrespective of what the influencing factor be, it is very important to opt for ways that will come in handy for handling the condition associated with the physical symptoms of stress.

Box breathing, which is a type of deep breathing, has been found to have beneficial impacts in handling the production and secretion of cortisol in the body which helps in managing the stress symptoms effectively.

While there are not many studies concerning the prospect of box breathing, it is not at all surprising that in a conducted study (R) with participants involving in deep breathing, it was found that they did have beneficial impacts in increasing the overall concentration levels while decreasing the levels of cortisol in the body.

Experts have suggested that box breathing is actually quite effective in not just handling the symptoms of stress but effectively getting rid of them for the better and all for the right reasons. It helps wipe out the excess stress that your body is not subjected to handle.

[Also Read: 7 Good Ways To Relieve Stress Naturally]

Improves Overall Mental Well Being

Our body isn’t just dependent on its physical well being. The mental state of wellness is one of the most important factors that one does need to keep into consideration.

Box breathing exercises for anxiety are actually helpful in managing the symptoms and helps in reducing the constant state of panic that many people often tend to struggle with.

It is not a surprise that even studies (R) have implied the benefits of some of the deep breathing techniques on the reduction of not just stress but anxiety and depression too.

Also, Read: 18 Ways to Boost and Improve Mental Health for a Better Life

Handles the Future Reactions to Stress

A number of conducted studies have found that the box breathing does have beneficial impacts in handling the condition or the body’s state of mind in handling the future responses when it comes to the stress response.

When you know how to handle your stress with the breathing techniques and such, it does become a lot easier for you to handle the future responses when you are faced with them during the condition.

A study (R) conducted found that relaxation techniques for the stress management impact how the genes in the body are switched on. It has been found that these processes often also boosted the genes associated with energy and insulin and reduced the genes expression associated with inflammation as well as stress.

The impacts of it on the long or the short term impacts the condition depending on how one is practicing it on the long term.

Tips to Keep into Consideration

As mentioned before, the impacts associated with correct posture and process is quite effective in handling the stress and anxiety in an efficient way.

For the box breathing, it is all in the technique and how one adheres to it truly.

To help you out with the process even further, we do have some more tips to share that will come in handy for you.

• Start by selecting a place in the house which is hidden away from the chaos and is quite and tranquil. This is very important. Avoid the noises and the distractions for the maximum impact altogether.
• Given the fact that you need to channel in your concentration as well, it is important that you do it the traditional way. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach to literally feel the air pass through your nose and into the lungs. This helps in you feeling the process for the better.
• Keep your body relaxed and try and get out of the stressful mindset and focus on things that would influence your thought process for the better.

Box breathing is quite an effective breathing technique that helps manage the stress, anxiety and restlessness that one must be feeling. If you are struggling with your mental health condition, opting for this method can actually be quite helpful in handling the situation in a very constructive way.