Square Breathing and Triangle Breathing: Two Techniques To Soothe The Anxious Body

​Have you ever tried to practice mindfulness in the middle of a panic attack?
 
For those who experience significant anxiety, the idea of being mindful when in the middle of a panic attack may seem a little absurd, and there is good reason for this. When we become severely anxious, our brain goes offline as a means of protecting itself. This is why people sometimes don’t remember details of traumatic events or dissociate when overwhelmed. Mindfulness is a skill that uses the mind, so it’s a tricky skill to use when the mind switches off in a state of significant stress.

For this reason, I like to differentiate between mindful breathing and relaxation breathing. Both are important, but they serve different purposes. Ultimately, we want to get to a mindful place because this is where our brain develops the ability to tolerate anxiety long-term, and mindfulness is deeply beneficial to our overall health (see my post on mindfulness here). However, when we are in the heat of a heavy emotion, relaxation training can be the first step to reining in our nervous system down enough to use mindfulness effectively.
 
The major difference between mindful breathing and relaxation breathing is that mindful breathing involves watching without controlling, and relaxation breathing involves both watching and controlling the breath.
 
Here’s a couple relaxation breathing techniques you can try.
 
Square Breathing:
 
Square breathing is a great entry point into relaxation breath training. To try square breathing, follow a mental square in your mind as you breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, and hold again for four seconds.
 
Try it! Visualize the square as you breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold.

​The visual component of square breathing makes it simple and easy to remember, even when experiencing symptoms of panic or severe anxiety. When we breathe in a slow and structured way, we shift our thoughts from anxious thoughts and bring our awareness back into our body. As the body calms down, we can shift to mindful breathing, without the control of the breath.
 
Triangle Breathing:
 
Triangle breathing is a slightly more advanced style of breathing, where the most important component is that the exhale is twice as long as the inhale. When we are panicking, we tend to breathe in with short, shallow gulps of air. This causes us to hyperventilate. When we direct the focus to the exhale, the relaxation response is deep and quickly felt throughout the body. In triangle breathing, the bottom of the triangle is twice as long as the sides. Try this with counts of 4-4-6 to start, then advancing to 4-4-8. Breathing in, up one side of the triangle for a count of four, holding as we trace down the other side of the triangle for a count of four, and eexxhaaaaaling out slowly across the bottom of the triangle for a count of 6 or 8.

​Whether you are using square or triangle breathing, remember the most important thing is to breathe slowly and steadily.
 
As soon as the body begins to release some of the anxiety, let the breath become natural again, and use mindfulness to notice how you feel.
 
The breath is so incredibly powerful. It can have an enormous impact on our health and wellbeing. And lucky for us, it’s a tool we never have to remember to bring with us when we are leaving the house because it’s always right there in our lungs!
 
Can you think of a quiet place where you can go for a couple minutes the next time you feel anxious to practice a little relaxation breathing?