Box Breathing: The Stress-Relieving Technique Navy SEALs Use to Calm Down

Americans remain besieged by unprecedented anxiety, a feeling that is only heightened when the future might seem cloudy and uncertain. Yes, we’re talking about election season—a stressful time no matter where you stand on the political aisle. Emotions run sky-high, and from presidential to local elections, someone is bound to be disappointed.

Are you finding yourself going from zero to panicked in mere moments? To combat this overwhelming feeling, it’s helpful to have a number of tools on tap—and you’d be hard-pressed to find one with a better endorsement than box breathing, a calming technique used by elite U.S. Navy SEALs.

Box breathing is rooted in an Ayurvedic form of breathwork called pranayama that originated in India and is practiced in yoga, explains Tal Rabinowitz, founder and CEO of The DEN Meditation in Los Angeles.

“It has incredibly ancient roots, with different techniques for calming, bringing in energy, refining focus, and relaxing the nervous system; however, the military popularized it and brought it mainstream,” Rabinowitz says.

Box breathing made its way to military special operations by way of Mark Divine, a former SEAL himself and a martial artist.

The practice itself, which gets its name because there are four equal parts to it, is super simple. It works on the principle that slowing down your breathing helps you to relax, increases your oxygen intake, releases tension, and stimulates the vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve in your body and starts in the brain. One of its main functions is to slow the sympathetic stress response, says Erika Polsinelli, a Kundalini yoga teacher and founder of Evolve by Erika, a virtual wellness center. She points out that some pilot research published in the journal, Brain Stimulation, suggests that stimulating it may improve anxiety.

And the more you do box breathing on a regular basis, the more you will notice stress doesn’t affect you the same way, says Rabinowitz. “So absolutely use it when needed, but don’t just wait for a stressful moment,” she suggests. “Find five minutes wherever you can.”

How to do box breathing

1. 1.
   Set a timer for five minutes.
2. 2.
   Sit with a straight spine on the floor or in a chair with your feet flat.
3. 3.
   Close your eyes and inhale for a count of four.
4. 4.
   Hold your breath for a count of four.
5. 5.
   Exhale for a count of four.
6. 6.
   Hold for a count of four.
7. 7.
   Repeat until the alarm sounds.

Need a demo? This “What the Wellness” experience includes a form of box breathing.