Box Breathing Timer: 4-4-4-4 Breathing Guide

Box breathing timer: a 4-4-4-4 breathing guide

Short answer

Box breathing is breathing in, holding, breathing out and holding for the same count, often 4 seconds each. In a 2023 randomized trial, 5 minutes a day of breathwork (box breathing, cyclic sighing or cyclic hyperventilation) lifted daily positive mood more than mindfulness meditation, though on its own only cyclic sighing was significantly better.

Last reviewed 28 October 20261 published sourcesNot medical advice

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Box breathing timer

Breathe in, hold, breathe out and hold for the same count. The square grows as you breathe in and shrinks as you breathe out.

Count for each side

Session length

Breathe in
Hold
Breathe out
Hold

Ready: 4-4-4-4 for 5 minutes

0:04

Round 1 of 19 · 5:04 left

Stop and breathe normally if you feel dizzy or light-headed. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere, and sound stays off unless you turn it on.

Box breathing counts in a 5-minute session
Count per side	One round	Breaths a minute	Rounds in 5 min
3 seconds	12 s	5.00	25
4 seconds	16 s	3.75	19
5 seconds	20 s	3.00	15
6 seconds	24 s	2.50	13

Count per side

One round

Breaths a minute

Rounds in 5 min

3 seconds

12 s

5.00

4 seconds

16 s

3.75

5 seconds

20 s

3.00

6 seconds

24 s

2.50

What the 2023 breathing trial found

Balban and colleagues randomly assigned 108 people to practise for 5 minutes a day for a month: cyclic sighing (30), box breathing (21), cyclic hyperventilation (33) or mindfulness meditation (24) (Balban et al., 2023). Box breathing used equal inhales, holds and exhales, for example 4 seconds each, with each step set at 3–4, 5–6 or 8–10 seconds depending on a breath-hold test.

Breathwork as a whole raised daily positive mood more than mindfulness meditation and lowered resting breathing rate more (Balban et al., 2023). Cyclic sighing, an exhale-focused pattern, was the only exercise significantly better than meditation on its own; box breathing improved mood by a similar amount, but its difference from meditation was not significant. Anxiety, negative mood, resting heart rate and HRV showed no difference between the groups.

Using the timer

Choose a count and a session length and press Start. The square grows as you breathe in, stays full while you hold, shrinks as you breathe out and stays small for the last hold. If your device is set to reduce motion, the square stays still and the highlighted step and countdown guide you instead. Stop and breathe normally if you feel light-headed.

For a longer quiet sit, use the meditation timer, or see how your HRV readings compare with your own normal using the HRV baseline calculator.

Common questions

How do you do box breathing?

Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4 and hold for 4, then repeat. The 2023 trial set each step at 3–4, 5–6 or 8–10 seconds based on a breathing test of how slowly each person could breathe out, and told people to shorten the count if they had to strain; this timer offers 3 to 6.

Does box breathing reduce stress?

In Balban and colleagues' 2023 trial, box breathing raised daily positive mood about as much as the other breathwork, but on its own it was not significantly better than mindfulness meditation. Anxiety and negative mood showed no difference between the groups.

Which breathing exercise worked best in the study?

Cyclic sighing, an exhale-focused pattern, was the only one significantly better than mindfulness meditation for positive mood, and breathwork as a whole lowered resting breathing rate more than meditation.

Sources

Figures on this page were checked against these publications on 28 October 2026.

Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, Weed L, Nouriani B, Jo B, et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine. 2023;4(1):100895. doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895

Box breathing timer: a 4-4-4-4 breathing guide