5 Benefits of Square Breath
Square breath (or box breath) is a powerful exercise and an excellent resource when you need to hit the reset button. In Sanskrit, this breath is called Sama Vritti. Like most breath work (pranayama) it has ancient roots in India; we are fortunate to have the opportunity to practice it now around the world. In the most minor instance, it can create a profound state change if you feel like you need a bit of grounding. It can also help with anxiety, stress and even insomnia. And don’t just take my word for it: a study done in 2017 showed that a group of Chinese IT workers had lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in their saliva after doing 8 weeks of breathwork sessions, which wasn’t apparent in the control group.
It' is exactly what it sounds like: you breathe in the shape of a square (or a box) for a count of 4, you hold the breath for a count of 4, you exhale the breath for a count of 4 and you hold the breath out for a count of 4. This is a moderately intense breath pattern since each count of the breath is evenly timed.
If you are a complete beginner, a good time to pick up this breath is when you need a dose of calm. If it feels like the long count of 4-4-4-4 is too much for you, you can reduce it to 2-2-2-2. Equally, if you feel like it may be beneficial to increase the count, you can take it up to 6-6-6-6. This practice is a good one to do if you're about to have a difficult conversation or a stressful meeting in order to down-regulate your nervous system.
🐛 5 Benefits to practicing Square Breath Regularly 🦋
Deepens your concentration and focus.
Trains more powerful breathing musculature,
Slows down your breath rate.
Has a profoundly calming effect on the body.
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system (our rest and digest mechanism).
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