Box Breathing

Actually, no cardboard box is required, as ‘box breathing’ is just a simple, but powerful technique that can be used to slow your breathing rate, and reduce your stress levels. 

When people get stressed, their breathing tends to get faster and shallower, and despite this, they actually end up with less oxygen in their bodies. For anyone trying to recover from an illness or injury, maximising the amount of oxygen getting to your tissues is very important. 

This 2017 research paper talks about how slowing your breathing helps re-balance your nervous system and increase the amount of oxygen in your arteries. A normal breathing rate is between 10 and 20 breaths per minute, and anything between 4 and 10 breaths per minute is regarded as slow breathing. The sweet spot for beneficial results appears to be around 6 breaths per minute.

Importantly, a recent study showed that by slowing your breathing rate, you can lower levels of a key stress hormone called cortisol. Lowering cortisol is very important, as high levels of cortisol are associated with heart disease, digestive problems, weight gain, increased blood sugar, and decreased immune function. High cortisol also monkeys with your sleep, as any stressed-out person will tell you. 

This is where ‘box breathing’ comes in, it’s a simple routine for slowing your breathing down in a controlled way. Incidentally, people who do yoga and meditation tend to pick up the benefits of slowed breathing naturally as part of their practice. 

How to do the exercise

The figure below shows the four simple steps for the exercise. Start by breathing in through the nose for a count of 4 seconds. Next, hold your breath for a count of 4 seconds. Then exhale through the nose for 4 seconds. Finally, hold your breath for another 4 seconds before repeating the cycle again. If you are struggling to hold your breath for 4 seconds, simply start by using a count of 3 or less instead. A quick look at the maths shows that a 4 count will actually give you around 4 breaths per minute, a 3 count is 5 breaths per minute, and a 2 count is 7.5 breaths per minute - so they are all close to the therapeutic sweet spot of 6 breaths per minute. 

Box Breathing (4 count)

As for how much to do this exercise, the 2017 study had people doing 15 minutes each day for 8 weeks to achieve the drop in their cortisol levels. However, in my opinion, even doing 5 minutes a day will help considerably with relaxation and stress levels. 

If you are looking for an East Grinstead Osteopath please get in touch with:

Cliff Russell, Registered Osteopath

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