Breathee

Relax, calm down and clear your mind with the help of breathing exercises!

The desire to stop and breathe is the first intuitive response to stress, and for good reason. Deep breathing really triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for reducing emotional and physical arousal. The question is which types of deep breathing allow you to do this as quickly and effectively as possible. There are many more breathing techniques that are recommended for stress control than there are studies of their effectiveness. So far, the only way to determine the best techniques is to test them on yourself.

BOX BREATHING

The box breathing technique was popularised by former Navy SEAL Mark Divine, author of the Sealfit functional training complex. He claims this box breathing helps you quickly master yourself in a stressful situation. But there is no scientific research evidence to back up his claim.

This is the essence of this box breathing technique. When you feel nervous, you should imagine a box with four equal sides. Then do these steps:

1 step of box breathing: Slowly breathe in, imagining that you are moving up the side of the box, counting from one to four.

2 step of box breathing: Hold your breath for another four counts and move along the top side of the box.

3 step of box breathing: Exhale, counting to four and move down the other side.

4 step of box breathing: Hold your breath again for four counts and walk down the underside of the box.

If you don't have the strength to hold your breath for 4 counts, you can reduce the pattern of box breathing to 2-2-2-2 or 3-3-3-3. You can also use a 5-5-5-5 or 6-6-6-6 scheme of box breathing if you want to take even deeper breaths. "Larger delays don't make sense unless, of course, you're scuba diving or going to serve in the SEAL," notes Divine.

By the way, there are special apps like Breathee – Breathing exercises to help you try box breathing. It's unlikely that SEALs will be able to use it directly on the battlefield. But it can come in handy in a peacetime setting.

TACTICAL BREATHING

Another SEAL technique is called tactical breathing. This tactical breathing can be used in tense and stressful situations to focus. In fact, tactical breathing is very similar to box breathing - so much so that some manuals for US Navy sailors don't share the tactical breathing and the box breathing. But Divine prefers to talk about tactical breathing and box breathing as two different techniques.

The difference between box breathing and tactical breathing is that in the latter there is no delay between inhalation and exhalation. You don't need to imagine a box either - it's enough to count in your mind.

1 step of tactical breathing: Breathe in through your nostrils for four counts.

2 step of tactical breathing: Exhale through the nostrils for four counts.

3 step of tactical breathing: Repeat until you are relaxed. If you wish, you can exhale through your mouth - but not inhale. And don't forget to count to yourself.

By the way, research says that using tactical breathing and box breathing techniques improves mood and concentration if repeated regularly. So you can apply tactical breathing not only in stressful situations, but also just whenever you want.