Box Breathing vs 4-7-8 Breathing: Which One Should You Use?
If you want to feel calmer and more focused during the day, try box breathing. If you’re settling down for sleep, 4-7-8 breathing may be more useful.
Box breathing follows a simple pattern: breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four.
With 4-7-8 breathing, you breathe in for four, hold for seven and breathe out for eight.
But my research and experience have taught me there’s no need to get attached to the numbers. You can change them, slow things down or leave the counting out altogether. The best breathing exercise is one that feels comfortable enough for you to practise.
I learnt that myself before giving a talk in Washington.
The last time I used box breathing
I was in Washington DC, about to give a talk on mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) at a conference.
I’d decided to do something I hadn’t done before. I was going to share a personal story about my parents and their journey from East Africa to London. We were forced to leave East Africa by Idi Amin, and I’d never spoken about that experience to a room full of people.
Understandably, I was a little nervous. My heart was beating faster than usual, and the speaker before me was giving an excellent talk. It’s not always easy to follow someone who’s doing a brilliant job!
I’d recently finished writing Breathing Exercises For Dummies, so box breathing came to mind. I quietly started practising while sitting in the audience.
There was just one problem. A count of four felt too long. With all that anticipation in my body, I needed something a little easier.
So I changed the rhythm.
In for three, hold for three, out for three, hold for three.
That felt manageable. After a few rounds, I noticed myself settling. My breathing became steadier, and I felt more grounded.
The talk went very well, I’m pleased to say.
The small lesson I took from that experience is worth remembering: the numbers are there to help you, not the other way round. Adjust them to suit your body.
Box breathing vs 4-7-8 breathing: what’s the difference?
Both exercises use a pattern to guide your breathing, but they have slightly different rhythms and can be useful in different situations.
| Box breathing | 4-7-8 breathing | |
|---|---|---|
| The pattern | In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4 | In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8 |
| Useful for | Feeling steady, calm and focused | Winding down and preparing for sleep |
| Difficulty | Relatively easy to learn | More demanding because of the longer hold and out-breath |
| Where to practise | Almost anywhere | Somewhere quiet, sitting or lying down |
| How it may feel | Balanced and steady | More relaxing and potentially sleep-inducing |
Box breathing keeps the in-breath, breath hold and out-breath the same length. It’s a useful choice when you want to settle yourself without necessarily becoming sleepy. You might try it before a presentation, during a stressful journey or before a difficult conversation.
The 4-7-8 pattern has a longer breath hold and a much longer out-breath. Many people find this helps them wind down, which makes it a popular choice at bedtime.
Neither is automatically better. It depends on what you need at the time.
Which one do I teach my clients?
I tend to start with box breathing.
It’s straightforward, doesn’t take long to learn and is accessible for most people. You can also change the count to make it more comfortable, as I did before my talk in Washington.
I introduce 4-7-8 breathing when someone wants to experiment with a practice that may help them settle before sleep.
There is a small catch. Holding your breath for seven counts and breathing out for eight can feel quite challenging, particularly when you’re new to it. There’s no prize for forcing yourself through the whole sequence.
Sometimes, the counting itself becomes a distraction. I’ve worked with people who spend the entire exercise worrying about whether they’re getting the numbers right.
In that case, I suggest letting go of the count. Try making your out-breath gently longer than your in-breath, or simply pay attention to the natural movement of breathing.
Mindfulness doesn’t need another maths test.
Does it matter which breathing exercise you choose?
Probably less than you think.
When I was researching Breathing Exercises For Dummies, I came across a meta-analysis by Guy Fincham and colleagues at the Universities of Sussex and Oxford. The researchers brought together 12 randomised controlled trials involving 785 adults.
Overall, they found that breathwork was associated with lower stress compared with the control conditions. The effect was small to moderate (Fincham et al., 2023).
I was particularly interested in another part of their analysis. The researchers explored whether the type of breathwork made a difference. They looked at factors such as slower or faster breathing, practising alone or in a group, and practising in person or remotely.
They didn’t find significant differences between these groups.
There are some important limitations. Only two of the trials used fast-paced breathing, so there wasn’t much evidence for that comparison. None of the studies directly compared box breathing with 4-7-8 breathing. The authors also identified a moderate risk of bias in most of the studies.
So we shouldn’t conclude that every breathing exercise works equally well.
Still, the findings fit with much of what I’ve seen in more than twenty years of teaching mindfulness and breathwork. You don’t need to find the one perfect technique. It’s more useful to find something comfortable that you can return to.
A few things are worth keeping in mind:
- Choose something you can actually do. A simple breathing practice that you enjoy and repeat is likely to be more useful than an impressive-looking technique you give up after two attempts.
- Keep your breathing gentle. There’s no need to take enormous breaths or lift your shoulders towards your ears. Let the breath move comfortably, without forcing it.
- Pay attention to how you feel. If an exercise makes you tense, uncomfortable or light-headed, stop and return to natural breathing. You can always try a gentler version another time.
You might also find my guide to the best breathing exercise to start with useful.
How to do box breathing
You can practise box breathing sitting in a chair, standing or even lying down.
- Find a comfortable position and let your shoulders soften.
- Breathe in gently through your nose for a count of four.
- Hold your breath comfortably for four.
- Breathe out gently for four.
- Pause for four before breathing in again.
- Repeat for a minute or two.
Think of each side of the breathing pattern as one side of a square.
If a count of four feels uncomfortable, try three. If it feels easy, you could experiment with five. There’s no need to stretch your breathing beyond what feels natural.
Box breathing is often associated with training used by US Navy SEALs to help manage stress and maintain focus. You don’t need to be in a military training programme to find it useful, though. It can be practised while waiting for a train, sitting in a meeting or before picking up the phone to make an awkward call.
For more guidance, see how long you should do box breathing.
How to do 4-7-8 breathing
This exercise is usually best practised somewhere quiet, especially when you’re learning it.
- Sit comfortably or lie down.
- Breathe in gently through your nose for a count of four.
- Hold your breath for a count of seven.
- Breathe out slowly through your mouth for a count of eight.
- Repeat up to four times, then allow your breathing to return to normal.
You may find the longer breath hold or out-breath difficult at first. That’s perfectly normal. Don’t force yourself to complete the full count.
You could begin with a simpler pattern: breathe in for two and out for four. As you become more comfortable, you can gradually experiment with longer counts.
The important thing is to listen to your body rather than trying to achieve a particular number.
As with any breathing exercise, stop if you feel dizzy or uncomfortable. Return to your normal breathing and give yourself time to settle before deciding whether to try again.
If you’re particularly interested in breathing exercises for sleep, you might also enjoy my comparison of 4-7-8 breathing and coherent breathing.
Why does changing your breathing affect how you feel?
There’s an interesting relationship between breathing and emotion.
Think about what happens when you’re anxious. Your breathing often becomes quicker and shallower. When you’re relaxed, it tends to become slower and steadier.
Researchers have explored whether this relationship works in the other direction too. In some experiments, people were asked to breathe in patterns associated with particular emotions, without being told which emotion each pattern represented. Their emotional experiences began to shift in the direction associated with the breathing pattern (Philippot et al., 2002).
In other words, the way you breathe doesn’t just reflect how you feel. It may also influence how you feel.
This gives us a practical way to work with stress. Rather than waiting for your mind to become calm, you can begin by gently changing the rhythm of your breathing.
You’re not trying to force yourself to feel happy or relaxed. You’re simply giving your body a slightly different experience.
What if mindfulness doesn’t seem to work?
I often hear people say that they find it difficult to meditate when they’re stressed.
They sit down, close their eyes and try to focus on the breath. But their mind keeps racing. They remember all the things they need to do. They start worrying about the very fact that they can’t relax.
Sometimes, even finding the motivation to practise feels like too much effort.
There’s nothing wrong with you if that happens. It’s not a sign that you’re bad at mindfulness.
When you’re particularly stressed, a structured breathing exercise can be a helpful place to begin. The counting gives your attention something simple to return to, while the rhythm offers a little steadiness.
You don’t need to empty your mind or achieve a special state. Just follow the next breath, and then the next.
And remember, you can always make the exercise simpler. Three counts instead of four. A slightly longer out-breath. Or no counting at all.
The breath is available to you throughout the day. You don’t need special equipment, a quiet room or even a meditation cushion.
Sometimes, one gentle breath is a good place to start.
Adapted in part from my book Breathing Exercises For Dummies.