Breathing practices
Breathing practices built around a named pattern — 4-7-8, box, diaphragmatic, extended exhale, coherent. Counts, posture and cautions come before the instructions.
The Extended Exhale Ladder: Doubling the Out-Breath
A one-to-two ratio between inhale and exhale is the simplest ratio in breath work and the easiest to remember when you are already tired.
Belly Tide: Diaphragmatic Breathing With a Longer Exhale
Most adults breathe into the upper chest without knowing it, which keeps the diaphragm shallow and the neck and shoulder muscles doing work they were never meant to do all day.
Box Breathing in Three Minutes: A Square to Hold On To
Box breathing draws four equal sides — in, hold, out, hold — and the symmetry is the whole trick.
4-7-8 Wind-Down Breath: Five Minutes Before Sleep
The 4-7-8 pattern gives more than half of every cycle to the exhale, and the exhale is the half that leans on the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system.
Times shown are the recommended length of the practice, not a maximum. Stopping early is always allowed and is not a failure of the technique.