When I went to SealFit Kokoro, a 50 hour camp run by Navy Seals, one of the first things we learned was the technique of Box Breathing. Box Breathing is a technique that calls for breathing in for a specific time, holding for a time, breathing out for a time and then holding for a time. Repeat this 5-10 times.

The idea of box breathing is that this protocol allows us to move from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system or from fight or flight to relaxation. It turns out that we learned this technique early because we would find many…many times that we would be placed in chaos and definitely in fight or flight and need to make decisions without emotion and clear headed.

The technique is simple. Lets take 5 as the count for all sides of the box. You simply breathe in for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, breathe out for 5 seconds and hold for 5 seconds. Repeat this 5 to 10 times.

Try this when feeling anxious or preparing to perform. Maybe even when you are poling up on a big tarpon and your knees are knocking and breath is shallow. Let me know what you think of this technique by emailing me at [email protected] and leave a comment below.