Have you been feeling boxed in?

It doesn't have to be something big and toxic and challenging to make you feel boxed in. 

Sometimes it's the little things, the ordinary things, the daily monotony, the lack of air inside any moment, that can make you feel hemmed in, often on all sides.

An overactive and stimulated nervous system, especially if stuck in a fight, flight, freeze or fawn loop, will feel threatened by the strangest things, which can sometimes feel bewildering, and can further heighten the feeling of being out control, boxed in, wondering where the next "attack" will come from, because more and more, they seem to be coming from normal everyday stuff that never used to worry you. Triggers seem to be everywhere and could be activated at any time. Anything from smells to sounds and even good things like laughter and music and closeness can set you off, and before you know it, it sneaks up on you and grabs you from behind, or it turns up Old School - barreling toward you like a freight train with all whistles blowing, 

You feel boxed in, like you can't breathe, like there's nowhere for you to go. 

Take a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slow it right down. Take your time. Breath by breath. 

It's mental health awareness month, so in this second week of May, we're going to practice breathing our way out of these boxed-in places we find ourselves in through a series of box breath affirmations. And in a cheesy way (cos it helps the picture and the process stick in my brain and body), I like to think of this as a kind of un-boxing… we'll unbox ourselves from the tight places we find ourselves in using our breath and our voice. 

Box Breathing is the practice of resetting the breath, moving it from fright or flight back into rest and digest. It helps reduce cortisol and adrenaline levels and restore a state of calm in the body, which impacts not just your physical self, but the entirety of you, body and soul. You box breathe your way out of the box that panic, stress, fear and overwhelm put you in. 

Breathe in for a count (slow - whatever pace you feel comfortable with) of four (into your belly), hold the breath for four, breathe out for another count of four, and hold the breath for four again—giving your breath this structure to work within aids bringing it back to a state of calm. You may need to practice this pattern for a good 3-6 minutes… give your body time to calibrate. 

I was talking to my functional Medicine GP about this… I've had some stress that I'm dealing with, and I told him that whenever I feel the panic rise, I have been practising box breathing. He asked me if I was doing it only as a response to the stress, or if I was practising it routinely. 

He told me that if I did box breathing for 3 min before every meal, three times a day, 21 times a week, I would shift the natural and resting state of my nervous exponentially compared to if I did only prescriptively in reaction to stress. 

*mic-drop* 

I've been doing it. And it's working. I've added affirmations/prayers/mantras to the rhythm of the breathing box, and that has added another layer to the practice that's helping me shift some narratives and stress I want to relearn how to experience. 

Because let's be real: You can't really rid your life of stress, but you sure as anything can work on your relationship and response to it. 

So let's do it. 

The power of holding something in your conscious awareness, instead of hiding, ignoring, numbing or running, is that when you face it, you can work through it, and let it go.

Hold it to let it go. 

BOX BREATH PRACTICE AND AFFIRMATION:

Breathe in for four: This stress is here. 

Hold for four: But I am here, too. 

Breath out for four: I turn towards it with compassion

Hold for four: I breathe my way through it. 

Repeat as necessary.
Breathe with me this week. I think we'll create some good habits and shift some shitty ones together.

REMEMBER: You're not trying to rid your life of stress; at a certain point, that just can't be done. Your work is to create a healthy and workable relationship with it so you can more easily move through it when it visits. 

Written by Liz Milani
Instagram: @thepracticeco

From this week’s series titled "Box Breathing Affirmations", with a subscription, in the App.