Pranayama - Find Calm with Box Breathing
manage your stress and improve your focus with this soothing pranayama practice
by marlee Newman
In this blog series, we guide you through five short breathing exercises designed to reduce stress and optimize your health. The best part? You only need 3-5 minutes a day, and you can do these exercises almost anywhere.
What is Pranayama?
Pranayama is the practice of breath regulation, also known as yogic breathwork. It’s an ancient Indian breath practice dating back to the origins of yoga and addresses the notion that physical and emotional blocks can build up within us, obstructing the flow of our breath or our “prana”—our life force. This buildup can leave us feeling, well, blocked! By practicing a range of pranayama practices along with yoga, we can actively clear these blocks, allowing our breath and life force to flow more freely.
Calming Breath Practice #2: Box Breathing
When:
Imagine you're running late for work, the school drop-off, the dentist, the zoom call… You think you don't have time to stop and breathe. But guess what? You park your car or just sit down wherever you find yourself and decide to take two minutes to practice box breath before jumping into your day.
Benefits:
This breathing technique helps manage stress and anxiety, improve focus, and regulate our nervous system. It's perfect for recentering yourself during stressful moments and signaling to your body that everything is okay.
Origins:
Box breathing, also known as square breathing or equal breathing, originates from India and is rooted in ancient Pranayama practices, or yogic breathwork. The technique is called "samavritti," where "sama" means "same" and "vritti" means "flow" or "wave."
How to Practice:
Get Comfortable: Ideally, find a comfortable seat with a straight spine. However, you can practice this breath while standing mid-conversation, at your desk at work, or even lying on the floor
Inhale: Breathe in through your nose while counting to four. Feel your belly expand and the air fill your lungs
Hold: At the top of your breath, pause and hold your breath for a count of four
Exhale: Slowly exhale through your nose or mouth while counting to four
Hold Again: At the bottom of your breath, pause and hold for another count of four
Repeat: Continue this pattern, visualizing a box in your mind or drawing one with your finger as you breathe
Note: As with all breathing practices, start slow and adjust according to your comfort level and breath capacity (especially if you have specific health concerns like high blood pressure, heart disease, abdominal pain or if you’re pregnant).
Learn more with the video below:
Marlee spent nearly a decade leading biking and hiking trips around the world and now calls San Rafael home. Alongside her yoga practice, she is studying to become a psychotherapist at the California Institute of Integral Studies and hosting creative retreats for women. Marlee’s yoga offering is infused with warmth, curiosity, and gratitude, blending dynamic flows with mindful movement and breathwork to bring us into the present moment. Her mission is clear: inspire authenticity, connection, and remind us how cool it is to be alive.
Marlee is offering a Breath Workshop and Cold Plunge with Metta at Dunphy Park in Sausalito, click here to join her!
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