Box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing: a guided exercise

Choose an exercise, press Start and follow the shape with your eyes. The guide counts for you, so you can give all your attention to your breath.

How to use the breathing guide

Choose an exercise and a length, and press Start. The guide begins by asking you to breathe all the way out. After that, the shape shows you what to do, and the number counts down the seconds of each phase.

In box breathing, follow the dot round the square: up as you breathe in, across as you hold, down as you breathe out and back as you hold again. In 4-7-8 breathing, the circle grows as you breathe in, stands still as you hold and shrinks as you breathe out.

Box breathing

Box breathing has four equal phases of four seconds: in, hold, out and hold. The rhythm is easy to remember, and many people use it to calm down before something stressful, such as a presentation or a difficult conversation.

In a study from Stanford, participants did five minutes of breathing exercises every day for a month. The breathing exercises, box breathing among them, improved mood more than the same amount of mindfulness meditation. An exercise with an extra-long breath out worked best (Balban et al., 2023).

4-7-8 breathing

4-7-8 breathing was developed by the American doctor Andrew Weil. You breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold for seven and breathe out through your mouth for eight, with a soft whoosh. The breath out is twice as long as the breath in, and that is the point of the exercise.

Weil recommends four rounds at a time, at least twice a day. There are only small studies of this exact technique. In a study of 43 healthy young adults, heart rate and blood pressure fell right after three rounds (Vierra et al., 2022). Many people use it in bed to wind down, alongside the habits on our sleep page.

What the research says about breathing exercises

A meta-analysis of randomised trials found that breathing exercises lowered stress compared with control groups, and also gave less anxiety and fewer depressive symptoms (Fincham et al., 2023). The effect was small to medium, and the researchers warn against promising too much before there are better studies.

What the exercises here have in common is that they slow your breathing down. 4-7-8 breathing gives about three breaths a minute and box breathing just under four. A systematic review found that breathing fewer than ten times a minute is linked to more activity in the part of the nervous system that calms the body, and to less anxiety (Zaccaro et al., 2018).

Why the Wim Hof method is not included

Wim Hof breathing consists of 30–40 deep, rhythmic breaths followed by a long breath hold after breathing out. It can cause tingling and dizziness, and some people faint. The Wim Hof Method itself warns against doing it in water, in the bath or while driving, and recommends sitting on a sofa or the floor.

A timer on your phone can tempt you to do it where you shouldn't, so we have left it out. If you want to try it, our guide to Wim Hof breathing explains how to do it safely.

Frequently asked questions

What is box breathing?

Box breathing has four equal phases: breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold for four before the next breath in. The phases are as long as the sides of a square, hence the name. One round takes 16 seconds.

How long should I do 4-7-8 breathing?

Dr Andrew Weil, who developed the technique, recommends four rounds at a time, at least twice a day. Four rounds take just over a minute. Once you are used to it, you can go up to eight rounds.

Do breathing exercises help with stress and anxiety?

A meta-analysis of randomised trials found that breathing exercises gave slightly lower stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms than control groups. The effect was small to medium, and the researchers call for better studies.

What should I do if I feel dizzy?

Stop the exercise and breathe normally until it passes. Next time, breathe more gently and less deeply. Many people find the hold in 4-7-8 breathing the hardest part at first.

Sources

• Dr Andrew Weil: The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise
• Balban et al. (2023): Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal, Cell Rep Med
• Fincham et al. (2023): Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: a meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials, Sci Rep
• Vierra et al. (2022): Effects of sleep deprivation and 4-7-8 breathing control on heart rate variability, blood pressure, blood glucose, and endothelial function in healthy young adults, Physiol Rep
• Zaccaro et al. (2018): How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing, Front Hum Neurosci
• Wim Hof Method: Safety warnings

The breathing guide is made for relaxation and does not replace treatment. If you have heart or lung disease, talk to your doctor before doing long breath holds. Nothing you do here is stored.