I want to share with you a breath practice called box breathing or square. In sanskrit it’s called Sama Vritti Pranayama. This loosely translates to mean Equal Mental Activity Breath Control Practice.
Essentially you begin by inhaling for the count of four, then you hold the breath for the count of four, next exhale for the count of four, and then finally hold the exhale for the count of four. The key is to keep each line of the box or square equal. It doesn’t matter if your pace is faster or slower as long as you keep all parts equal.
The purpose of this breath practice is to create an awareness about all aspects of your breath. We breath automatically without even thinking about it. Sometimes we breathe in and sometimes we breathe out. And sometimes we hold our breathe. With this practice you gain awareness to the breath and learn to improve your breath in all ways: inhale, exhale, and retention.