Navy Seals are one of the most elite military groups in our country. As such, they often find themselves in stressful, life and death situations and must remain calm and present to complete their jobs.

One of the strategies that helps them with this is called “box breathing”.

Here’s how it works:

• Breath in for a count of 4 seconds, feeling your lungs fill with air

• Hold your breath for a count of 4 seconds

• Exhale through your mouth for a count of 4 seconds

• Hold your breath for a count of 4 seconds

Repeat this sequence as needed until you feel calm and centered.

Why it works:

Our breath is a powerful tool that helps to regulate multiple systems within our bodies.

When we are feeling stressed, we often breathe faster and with shorter breaths. We’re in “fight or flight” mode even though there is rarely a situation most of us must actually fight or run from.

Our sympathetic nervous system is activated to help us deal with the “danger”, which causes our heart rate (and blood pressure) to rise and we feel more anxiety.

When we focus on intentional breathing techniques, like the box breathing,

• we are slowing our breath significantly,

• we’re paying attention to the present moment while concentrating on the technique, and

• we’re helping to de-activate the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and move to the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxed mode)

At the end of your day, a slight variations of the box breathing technique can be helpful to calm your mind and body for sleep.

Some options include:

• Breath in for a count of 4 seconds

• Hold your breath for a count of 4 seconds

• Exhale through your mouth for a count of 6 (or 9) seconds

• Hold your breath for a count of 2 (or 3 ) seconds

Action Steps:

1. Try a 60 second round of box breathing and see how you feel. Are you more present, calm and centered?

2. The next time you’re feeling stressed or anxious, try to remember the technique and use it to bring yourself back to a more relaxed and healthier state.

3. Practice one of the box breathing variations before bed the next time you find your mind wandering and you’re not able to sleep. Allow yourself to do as many rounds as needed until you feel more relaxed.