I resist meditation and I have a meditation blog. I meet a lot of people who resist meditation, and a big reason is … it’s uncomfortable.
This is another uncomfortable method, but the perks are it seems to work super well, and it’s easy to understand.
My watch actually suggested it, but there is a lot of content out on the Internet supporting it, Box Breathing.
I’ve been trying different intervals (or really just paying attention to how my mind and body change) when I count to different numbers.
4-4-4-4
- Breath in for four seconds
- Hold for four seconds
- Breath out for four seconds
- Hold for four seconds
I don’t have a magic way to know how long a second is, so I just count to a number that feels effective, usually 6 or 8.
I’ve been doing this when I notice some variation of panic, or anxiety and it seems to be pretty effective.
The reasoning is, the breath hold (the apnea really) encourages the mind to slow down and conserve oxygen.
In DBT circles, a similar method exists, a breath hold into a shallow bowl of cold water (or a filled sink) to activate the diving reflex. I’ve done this and it works.
I have mixed feelings about activating the parasympathetic system this way (especially since it’s possible to activate both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems simultaneously, so this is a method I would encourage caution with.
If this makes things worse, as always, it’s OK to stop.
I’ve been using it on and off the last few days and it’s brought me some relief, so I wanted to share it.
v1.2 - Last edit 8-July-2024
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