Square Breathing

1. First, find a post-it note, or draw a square on a piece of paper. If you don’t have either of these things, that’s okay! You can trace an imaginary square on the surface in front of you. 

2. Second, soften your body and find a comfortable, upright posture. Gently shift your gaze to the post-it note, square, or surface in front of you.

3. I’m going to model how to do this tool first. Place your finger at the bottom right corner of your post-it note, square, or surface. Slowly breathe in to a count of four as you trace your finger up. Pause for a count of four as you trace your finger to the left. Slowly breathe out to a count of four as you trace your finger down. And pause for a count of four as you trace your finger to the right, returning to your starting point.

4. I always do square breathing 4 times to get the best effect. An easy way to remember it is 4-4-4-4-4. That’s 4 seconds of breathing in, 4 seconds of pausing, 4 seconds of breathing out, 4 second of pausing--and doing all of that 4 times. Try practicing this on your own!