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StillnessCalming technique

Box breathing is a simple calming exercise: breathe in for a count of four, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold again for four before starting over. It slows the breath and gives the mind a steady rhythm to follow.

Breathing technique

Health

The story behind the card

The four equal steps are why it is also called square breathing: each count is one side of the box. It resembles the breath-control exercises of yoga and is taught to US Navy SEALs, the navy's special forces, as a way to stay calm under pressure. Slow breathing tends to lower the heart rate by shifting the autonomic nervous system, the part that runs the body without conscious effort, towards its calming 'rest and digest' mode. A 2023 Stanford University study had volunteers spend five minutes a day for a month on one of three breathing exercises, box breathing among them, or on mindfulness meditation. The breathing groups gained more in positive mood than the meditation group, and the exercise built around long, slow breaths out did best. If holding your breath feels uncomfortable, shorten the holds rather than forcing the count.

Türkçe oku
Kutu nefesi basit bir sakinleşme egzersizidir: Dört sayarak nefes alın, dört sayı tutun, dört sayarak verin ve yeniden başlamadan önce dört sayı daha tutun. Bu egzersiz nefesi yavaşlatır ve zihne izleyebileceği düzenli bir ritim verir.

Dört eşit adımı yüzünden bu tekniğe kare nefes de denir: Her sayım kutunun bir kenarıdır. Yogadaki nefes egzersizlerine benzer; ABD Donanması'nın özel harekât birliği Navy SEAL'lara da baskı altında sakin kalmanın bir yolu olarak öğretilir. Yavaş nefes, vücudu bilinçli çaba gerektirmeden yöneten otonom sinir sistemini sakinleştirici “dinlen ve sindir” moduna kaydırır ve böylece kalp hızını genellikle düşürür. Stanford Üniversitesi'nde 2023'te yapılan bir çalışmada gönüllüler bir ay boyunca her gün beş dakika, biri kutu nefesi olan üç nefes egzersizinden birini ya da bilinçli farkındalık meditasyonunu uyguladı. Nefes egzersizi yapanların ruh hâli meditasyon yapanlarınkinden daha çok iyileşti; en iyi sonucu uzun ve yavaş nefes vermeye dayanan egzersiz verdi. Nefesinizi tutmak rahatsız ediyorsa sayıyı zorlamayın, tutma sürelerini kısaltın.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Relaxation technique
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He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.

English quotation books have called this an “Arabian proverb” since at least the 1860s; Tryon Edwards's A Dictionary of Thoughts (1891) is one, but these books give no Arabic original, so the label is best taken loosely. The idea is widely shared: good health gives people the strength to plan and to recover from setbacks. Turkish says “Her şeyin başı sağlık”, health comes first, and when a glass breaks people say “Sağlık olsun”: never mind, as long as everyone is well.

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In studies that compare meals with the same number of calories, the higher-protein version usually keeps people satisfied for longer, although the effect is modest. One reason is that protein prompts the gut to release more of the hormone PYY, which tells the brain that food has arrived; a 2006 study led by Rachel Batterham at University College London found the strongest PYY response after high-protein meals. Another is that the body works harder to process protein: a 2004 review by the Maastricht University physiologist Klaas Westerterp reports that digesting and using it burns 20 to 30% of its calories, against 5 to 10% for carbohydrate and up to 3% for fat. UK guidance puts adults' needs at about 0.75 g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day, around 45 g for women and 56 g for men, and average intakes are well above that.

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