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Box Breathing
Box breathing uses equal inhale, hold, exhale, and hold phases—often four seconds each—to calm stress and support HRV before sleep or performance.
Box breathing is a four-phase pattern—inhale, hold, exhale, hold—often four seconds each side, used to downshift stress before sleep or between hard sets. It lengthens exhale relative to panic breathing and can raise HRV when practiced daily.
Not a substitute for fixing overload schedules.
Common questions
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How many minutes of box breathing help?
Three to five minutes daily or two minutes before sleep is a practical start. Longer is fine if it does not cause lightheadedness from over-breathing.
Related terms
Put Box Breathing into practice
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