Pranayama
Box Breathing (Equal-Ratio Breath)
Sama Vṛtti Prāṇāyāmaसम वृत्ति प्राणायाम· SAH-ma VRIT-tee prah-nah-YAH-maequal-movement breath; the modern 'box breathing'
Box breathing is a simple, steadying technique in which you inhale, hold, exhale and hold again for an equal count — like tracing the four sides of a box. It calms the nervous system and helps rein in stress or anxiety in the moment. In yogic terms it is a form of Sama Vritti, equal-ratio breathing.
Step by step
- 1
Sit upright
Sit in any comfortable upright position with the back straight and the shoulders relaxed. Picture a box in front of you.
- 2
Inhale up one side
Inhale slowly for a count of about five, imagining you are travelling up one side of the box.
Breath: Inhale, count five
- 3
Hold across the top
Hold the breath for the same count, imagining you move along the top of the box.
Breath: Hold, count five
- 4
Exhale down the side
Exhale slowly for the same count, imagining you travel down the far side of the box.
Breath: Exhale, count five
- 5
Hold along the bottom
Hold again for the same count, returning along the bottom to where you began. Repeat the square for several rounds, keeping every side equal and comfortable.
Breath: Hold, count five
Benefits
- Calms the nervous system and lowers a sense of stress or panic
- Anchors attention with a simple, even rhythm
- Helpful in the moment before a challenging situation
- Discreet and portable — can be done anywhere
About this practice
Box breathing gets its name from its shape: inhale, hold, exhale, hold — four equal sides, like tracing a square. That evenness is what makes it so calming; giving the mind a simple count to follow interrupts a stress spiral and brings you back to the present. In yogic terms it's a form of Sama Vritti, or equal-ratio breathing. It pairs well with a quick grounding step — naming a few things you can see, hear and touch — before you begin.
Related practices
Video transcriptIn this session, Sandhya Balakrishnan guides viewers through sensory awareness, belly breathing, and box breathing techniques to relieve stress and anxiety.
Hello and Namaste everyone, my name is Sandhya Balakrishnan and welcome to Yoga & You. This is another episode of our series Yoga for Working Professionals.
If there is one thing that binds us all today, irrespective of age, gender or occupation, it is stress. Over the last few decades, technology and the digital revolution have made our lives simpler and more convenient. However, at the same time, they have also left us feeling increasingly stressed and anxious than ever before. It is very important for us to address and acknowledge our mental health struggles and take concrete steps to bring a sense of peace, calm and sanity into our lives.
And what better way to do this than through yoga? It has been proven that the regular practice of pranayama and dhyana can significantly bring down the levels of stress hormones within our body and boost the production and flow of the feel good hormones in our body.
So in this episode, I will talk about a simple three-step technique to address stress and anxiety, and I hope you will find this useful the next time you are faced with a particularly challenging situation in your personal life. Let's start by learning the sensory awareness technique first.
For this, sit down in any comfortable position, keeping your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in and out. Now slowly open your eyes and look around you, describe the first three things that you see around you. For me, it is a beautiful flowering bush, a few rocks and my yoga mat.
Next, focus on the first three sounds that you can hear around you. For me, it is the chirping of birds, the conversation between a few people near me and the sounds of traffic, and lastly describe the first three things that you can touch with your hands. For me, it is the hair on my head, the bangle on my wrist and the yoga mat that I am sitting on.
This technique is really powerful as it helps to stop our thoughts and emotions from spiraling out of control during moments of extreme panic or anxiety, and helps us to bring our focus and awareness to the simple reality of the present.
Let's now learn the technique known as belly breathing. For this, start by sitting in any comfortable upright position, keep your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and now place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Now start to inhale and imagine that you are filling air only in your stomach while your chest remains still, like this.
You will observe that the stomach expands as you inhale while the chest remains still, and now empty out all the air from your stomach like this while the chest remains still. Continue this technique for about three to five times where you only inhale air into your stomach and exhale air from the stomach.
Normal breathing is relatively shallow and doesn't use the full capacity of our lungs. However, belly breathing is a deep breathing technique which completely engages the diaphragm and improves the efficiency of our lungs while also bringing a beautiful sense of peace and calm into our minds.
Now let's finally learn the box breathing technique. For this, once again start by sitting in any comfortable upright position, keeping your back straight, shoulders relaxed. Now imagine there is a box in front of you.
Now take a deep breath in and visualize taking five steps up along one side of the box like this. Now hold your breath and visualize taking five steps along the top side of the box. Now slowly start to exhale and visualize taking five steps down the side of the box like this. Finally, hold your breath again and visualize taking five steps back to the point where you first started. Repeat this technique three to five times.
While the fundamentals of this technique are fairly simple, what makes it so efficient and effective is the visualization of the box. This technique is particularly helpful as it keeps our thoughts and emotions from spiraling out of control during moments of extreme panic or anxiety.
And the beauty of this three-step technique that we learnt today is that you can do this very easily from the comfort of your own home desk or work desk and bring about a quick sense of calm, peace and sanity into your mind.
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Stay tuned for the next one, until then stay healthy, stay happy, bye bye.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you do box breathing?
- Inhale for a count of about five, hold for five, exhale for five and hold for five, then repeat — keeping all four 'sides' equal and comfortable, like tracing a box.
- Is box breathing the same as a yoga technique?
- It's a modern name for equal-ratio breathing, which yoga calls Sama Vritti. The steady, even rhythm with gentle holds is what makes it calming.
References
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Chapter 2 (Pranayama) · Classical text — Classical source for equal-ratio breathing (Sama Vritti) with breath retention.