Leadership
Benefits of Square Breathing
Increase focus and decrease stress with a technique that will help regulate and reset.
Square breathing, or box breathing/four-square breathing, is a valuable mindfulness practice. Square breathing is helpful for:
- calming nerves
- stress relief
- increasing clarity
- refocusing
- meditation and mindfulness
The benefit of the square breathing technique is that it’s accessible. Anyone, at any time, can perform the square breathing technique. I have used this technique in many diverse situations myself. Regardless if I’m focusing before launching into a presentation or trying to re-centre if a conversation escalates into an unexpected area, square breathing helps me keep my emotions and reactions appropriate for the given situation. It’s also great to help teenagers build resilience in stressful situations (e.g. before exams), and young children learn how to regulate their emotions.
Overall, square breathing not only helps decrease anxiety and stress but increases your overall performance in any given situation. According to Mark Mark Divine, former US Navy SEALs Commander, NYT bestselling author of The Way of the SEAL, focused…
