Box breathing, 4-7-8 and grounding: a two minute lift that breathes with you
A free two minute breathing tool. Press to breathe in and an old Bombay lift rises a floor. Let go to breathe out. Box breathing, 4-7-8, or slow. Six floors. Nothing stored.
Sep 8, 20264 min read
Written by The Thought Co.. Clinically reviewed by our team
read & checked ✓
Watercolour illustration of a lift indicator dial with the words panic has one lever you can reach, the breath on the way out, a box breathing exercise for anxiety
You know breathing helps. What you can't remember in the cubicle after the 11am standup is the count, and a list of numbers is the last thing a racing body reads.
Take a deep breath and relax.Press to breathe in. Let go to breathe out.the lift stops when you stop
Two minutesNothing storedNo sign up
Pick a paceabout 2 min
Which count do you want the lift to keep?
Press and hold to breathe in. Keep holding through the hold. Let go to breathe out. If you stop, the lift stops. It starts again when you do.
The lift
0of 6 floors
Press to breathe in
Ground floor. Gate closed. Nothing to do yet.
Keyboard: hold the space bar.
Sixth floor. Doors open.
Your body did that. Six long exhales, each one a message to the part of you that decides whether this is an emergency. It has decided it isn't, for now.
The out breath is the only part of the stress response you can drive by hand. You just drove it six times.
The thing that set it off is still there. You now have a slower heart to look at it with.
This piece is for understanding, not diagnosis. If you feel close to harming yourself or someone else, please reach out now, it is what these lines are for. Tele-MANAS: 14416 (24 hours). iCALL: 9152987821 (Mon to Sat, 10am to 8pm).
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