Feed your senses in a positive way and beat anxiety
If it’s good enough to focus and calm the nervous systems of the Navy Seals then it’s definitely a personal skill worth having before you go into any situation that would have formerly caused you anxiety.
Also known as box breathing, it’s a controlled breathing practice is based on pranayama, an Ayurvedic form of breathwork that originated in India. Box breathing is known for improving physiological responses, helping to calm the mind, and bringing focus.
Want to jump straight in? Here’s how to do it:
Key tip: want to ground your hands at the same time?
Drawing a square on paper as you breathe, using your fingers to trace the shape on your body can help you to picture the flow of your breath moving in a square as you focus.
Practice until it becomes instinctive.
The more you do it, the more natural it will be. Be being instinctively aware of how your breathing is on a day to day basis, you’ll become more aware of how it feels when you’re in a more stressful situation. The aim is to practise to the point where it becomes instinctive, so if you’re ever in a situation that has surprised you, stressed you or given you anxiety, you can ground yourself very quickly and clear your head with square breathing.
Find what speed works for you.
Everyone counts at different speeds, it’s important to find a speed that works for you. You might experiment by counting to four at a medium pace and feeling if that suits your breath. What you don’t want to do is count so slowly that you feel lightheaded or dizzy.
What position will you be in when you learn?
Practice square breathing sitting down if you can or standing up tall, either way, make sure your shoulders are back and your posture is good – this will really open up your diagphragm and improve your mastery of the habit.
Even when you’ve mastered it, keep doing it. Make time for it, practitioners of this achieve so much because the next level up is medidation which can help you to visualise and plan how to reach your goals. Big project coming up? Four minutes at the start of every day could make each day better.
Don’t let the moment overwhelm you. You ARE in charge of your breathing. You’ve got this …
