Equal Breathing
4-0-4 · 7.5 breaths a minute
A simple, even rhythm to start with
Box breathing timer
Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, and hold for 4. One cycle takes 16 seconds, a little under 4 breaths a minute.
Cues
Keyboard, while the timer has focus
SpaceStart or pauseEscStopFFocus mode
Session complete
3 minutes · 12 cycles of box breathing
In the app, each session builds your streak and saves to Apple Health when you allow it.
How to do it
Sit upright, or lie down with your arms a little away from your sides. Keep your shoulders down and let the breath move your belly, not your chest.
- Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds.
- Hold with your lungs full for 4 seconds.
- Breathe out through your nose or mouth for 4 seconds.
- Hold with your lungs empty for 4 seconds, then start again.
If 4 seconds feels long, start with 3 on each side. If it feels easy after a few minutes, try 5, or switch to Deep Box, 6 seconds on each side. The dot follows the same order as the breath: up the left side, across the top, down the right, along the bottom.
The holds are easy to force. Leave a little air in after the exhale instead of pushing it all out, and come out of a hold early if you need to. A shorter, quiet breath beats a long, tense one.
Other breathing timers
The same timer for every pattern, plus the full comparison.
Coherent Breathing
5-0-5 · 6 breaths a minute
Six slow breaths a minute to settle the body
4-7-8 Breathing
4-7-8 · 3.2 breaths a minute
A long exhale to wind down for sleep
Extended Exhale
4-0-8 · 5 breaths a minute
Twice as long out as in, for quick calm
7-11 Breathing
7-0-11 · 3.3 breaths a minute
Deep and slow, for anxious moments
Triangle Breathing
4-4-4 · 5 breaths a minute
Three even sides to sharpen attention
When people use it
Box breathing is taught for moments when you need to stay steady: before a presentation, in a waiting room, after a difficult conversation, or at the start of a shift. The 4 equal sides make it easy to follow without watching a screen once you know it.
Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL, says he practices it in the morning, before a workout, while standing in line and when stuck in traffic.1 Military and police training call the same 4-4-4-4 pattern tactical breathing.2,3 A 2025 preregistered study with 96 police students found that pairs told to use tactical breathing performed better in a simulated critical incident than pairs following their usual procedure, though they did not report feeling less stressed.2 The evidence is not all one way: in a 2021 laboratory study, prolonged exhalation led to better scores than tactical breathing on a timed interference task, while tactical breathing brought lower physiological arousal.3
An NHS staff wellbeing leaflet teaches box breathing for stress at work, with the option to trace the square on a phone or notepad as you breathe.4
What the research says
A 2023 randomized trial at Stanford compared 4 practices done for 5 minutes a day for a month: cyclic sighing (a double inhale and a long exhale), box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation, and mindfulness meditation.5 Taken together, the breathing groups improved mood and lowered breathing rate more than meditation, and cyclic sighing was the only practice to improve mood significantly more on its own. Box breathing improved positive affect over the month against its own starting point, but not significantly more than meditation. Its arm had only 21 people, and the study measured mood by daily questionnaire, not a clinical outcome.
The trial is too small to show that box breathing treats anxiety or depression, or that it beats the other patterns. The practice that did best, cyclic sighing, is a different pattern from any timer here. Box breathing's case is practical: 4 equal counts are easy to remember, and an NHS staff leaflet chose it because it is easy to adapt during a busy shift.4
A systematic review of slow breathing under 10 breaths a minute found changes in heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia during practice, and reports of increased comfort and relaxation. The included studies were small and used different protocols, so the review describes associations rather than a settled mechanism.6
Questions
Is box breathing the same as square breathing?
Yes. Box breathing, square breathing, four-square breathing and 4x4 breathing are names for the same pattern: 4 equal steps of in, hold, out, hold. The app calls it Box Breathing.
How long should I do box breathing for?
The Stanford trial used 5 minutes a day.5 A 3-minute session is enough to settle into the rhythm, and a 1-minute one before a meeting. Start shorter than you think you need and finish wanting a little more. How long should you do box breathing?
Do I have to hold my breath?
No. Equal breathing is the same 4 counts in and out without either pause, and triangle breathing keeps only the hold after the in breath.
What is the difference between box breathing and Deep Box?
Deep Box uses 6 seconds on each side instead of 4, so one cycle takes 24 seconds. It suits people who are used to the 4-second box and want a slower rhythm. Both are presets in this timer.
Can I use the timer without sound?
Yes. Sound, voice and vibration are off until you turn them on in the Cues menu (the sliders button). The visual and the countdown work silently.
Is the app free?
Box breathing and equal breathing are free in the app. Premium adds the other patterns, custom patterns, streak freezes and full stats.
Do the web timers need the app?
No. Every timer on this site runs in your browser without an account. The app adds haptics on Apple Watch, daily reminders, widgets and Apple Health.
About BreathKit
BreathKit: Box Breathing is a guided breathing timer for iPhone and Apple Watch. It carries the same 8 patterns as this site, with a tap on your wrist at every phase, daily reminders and streaks, widgets for the Home and Lock Screen, and sessions saved to Apple Health as mindful minutes.
The watch app lets you breathe with your eyes closed and shows how your heart rate changes from the start of a session to the end. The app syncs through iCloud and needs no account.
Sources
- Divine, M. (2016). A Navy SEAL breathing technique to stay calm and focused. Time.Mark Divine's account of when he practices box breathing
- Sætrevik, B., Granerud, T., Nijhof, M., & Sandvik, A. (2025). Tactical breathing enhances police performance in a critical incident simulation. Collabra: Psychology, 11(1), 144527.The 2025 police student study: better simulated performance, no change in self-reported stress
- Röttger, S., Theobald, D. A., Abendroth, J., & Jacobsen, T. (2021). The effectiveness of combat tactical breathing as compared with prolonged exhalation. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 46, 19–28.The 2021 comparison: better task scores with prolonged exhalation, lower arousal with tactical breathing
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Breathing exercises (staff wellbeing leaflet).NHS staff guidance teaching box breathing, tracing a square, and why it was chosen for a busy shift
- Balban, M. Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M. M., et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895.The 2023 randomized trial's design, box breathing result and limitations
- Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., et al. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353.The systematic review of slow breathing under 10 breaths a minute
Take the square to your wrist
Tell BreathKit what you want help with (sleep, stress or focus) and it plans a technique and a time to breathe. Your streak shows in a Home Screen or Lock Screen widget.
