Box Breathing Exercise

A quick 60-second exercise to calm your nervous system. Free to try. No signup required.

4
Ready to begin

Box breathing (4-4-4-4) activates your vagus nerve to quickly calm anxiety and panic. This is just one of 15 techniques in Shift.

How Box Breathing Works

1️⃣

Inhale (4 sec)

Breathe in slowly through your nose

2️⃣

Hold (4 sec)

Pause and hold your breath

3️⃣

Exhale (4 sec)

Breathe out slowly through your mouth

4️⃣

Hold (4 sec)

Pause before starting again

Why It Works

✓ Activates Vagus Nerve

Slow breathing stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest).

✓ Lowers Heart Rate

Controlled breathing slows your pulse and reduces physical anxiety symptoms.

✓ Grounds You in the Present

Counting and focusing on breath pulls you out of spiraling thoughts.

Like This? Get 14 More Techniques in Shift

Auto-guided exercises for spiraling, frozen, raging, overwhelmed, and stuck.

Download Shift - Free Trial