Box breathing

At Home, Work or Elsewhere you can Practice Box Breathing Anywhere

Meditation and yoga are generally practiced to be unaffected by stress, overcome stress or relax the body. Breathing exercises exist as a cornerstone to a clear mind and a relaxed body. Box breathing is a simple relaxation technique that helps to clear the mind and improve focus. An easy-to-learn technique that helps in improving mental well-being, box breathing is effective for treating people in stressful situations.

Its mostly individuals in stressful jobs, such as soldiers or police officers, who practice box breathing to help themselves out of fight-or-flight situation. But, in general, it can be practiced by anyone hoping to improve their concentration skills and focusing abilities. It’s a practical and easy technique that can be performed anywhere-right at your workspace or at a restaurant. All that you need is a comfortable chair to sit.

• Close your eyes and breathe in through your nose counting to four.
• Hold the breath counting for another four seconds and simply don’t exhale or inhale
• Slowly exhale for 4 seconds
• It is recommended to repeat the above three steps for 4 minutes or if you have minimal time, at least do it thrice. Ideally, it is advisable to do it until you feel calmer and less stressful
  
  

Breathing Not Just for Surviving but for Living
Our body’s functioning indicates a lot many things and breathing is one among them. Enabling the body to leave the fight-or-flight mode and calming one’s breathing routine works great on the mind and body. In the fight-or-flight mode the body releases hormones that are responsible for the heart beating faster, breath becoming rapid and blood sugar levels to shoot up quickly. Experiencing these changes for a couple of seconds is acceptable but undergoing them too often or for too long is not good for the body. This kind of stress puts the body at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, headache and high blood pressure. Practicing box breathing allows the body to outdo stress and enter a state of calm.

Practicing box breathing has a couple of advantages attached to its kitty:

1. There is a reduction in the production of stress hormones in the body-cortisol. Practicing box breathing helps you eliminate excess stress and keeps you in a state of calm. Too much cortisol production can hamper wellness of the body and for more information about the effects of this hormone on our body please visit the website www.firsteatright.com.
2. Studies show that this technique decreases chances of anxiety, stress and depression and improves overall well-being
3. Yet another study showed that breathing techniques improved focus and helped people look at life with a better outlook
4. Practicing breathing techniques also alter the way in which our body reacts to stress. Studies show that any relaxation technique boosted the activation of genes associated with energy and insulin and decreased the activation of genes related to stress and inflammation
   
   

While practicing box breathing it is advisable to follow these suggestions to reap maximum benefits:

• It is possible to perform the technique anywhere but quieter the location is, fewer the distractions
• Place one hand on the chest and the other hand on the lower stomach to feel the air
• Keep your muscles in a relaxed state
  
  

Fix up a definite time to practice this routine. It can be for a couple of minutes as soon as you get up, get back from work or before doing your meditation.

With just four simple steps box breathing remains as one of the easiest and practical ways to reduce stress and enable a sense of calm. It can be easily added to our daily routine as a sure-shot way to relax our body.