Box breathing

Four in, four held, four out, four empty. Square, deliberate, something to do with your attention.

Sit however you are comfortable. You can close your eyes; the count is spoken on the screen, not out loud.

The pattern

in through the nose, out through the nose

Before something you are dreading. The counting is the point as much as the breathing.

What is known

Tested in the same trial as cyclic sighing and it helped — just less. If you want the strongest effect for the same five minutes, use cyclic sighing.

Balban et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2023