Guided practice: Box breathing practice

- In this video, we're going to use a breathing technique that's designed to settle the body and settle the mind. It's called the Four by Four or Box Breathing. And essentially what we're going to do is take four breaths. And for each breath, we're going to take a big inhale using our nose. We're going to hold our breath inside of our body after that. And then we're going to let it out using our mouth, and then hold it again outside of our body for four counts each. So we're going to, I'll demonstrate, we're going to breathe in two, three, four. I'm going to hold it two, three, four. I'm going to let it go. Two, three, four, and hold it again outside my body. Two, three, four. And I'm going to lead you along. I'm going to count along with you to stay aligned. Okay? All right, well let's take a big breath together, just to get aligned. So deep inhale in, and exhale, and then deep inhale in through the nose. Two, three, four, hold it inside. Two, three, four, out through the mouth. Exhale, two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four. Inhale through the nose. Two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four. Exhale through the mouth. Two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four. Inhale through the nose. Two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Exhale through the mouth. Two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four. Last one. Inhale through the nose. Two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four. Exhale through the mouth. Two, three, four. Hold it, two, three, four, and then just resume breathing normally. At this point, take some inner inventory. In other words, what's the quality of your body right now? Tense or relaxed? What's the quality of your mind? More or less busy inside? Oftentimes what happens for me and others is my body relaxes and starts to settle, and my mind allows to settle as well. Now we can use this in so many ways. We can use this when we're driving, if you're commuting and there's stress. We can do this with our eyes open. We can even do this in a meeting. Other people can even be looking right at us. They would never know we're doing it. We can be subtle. And for me, I really use this one to fall asleep, right? If I've woken up in the middle of the night, and I can't get back to sleep, this technique specifically is really great, because what it does is not only allows the body to relax, but allows the mind to settle as well. And oftentimes when I can't get to sleep, that's what's happening. My mind is busy. So try this one anytime you'd like to settle the body or settle the mind and become fully present.