---
title: "Box Breathing Timer: Guided 4-4-4-4 Pacer | Mellow Harbor"
description: "Free box breathing timer: follow a lantern light around the square as you breathe in, hold, breathe out and hold for equal counts. Pick your pace."
url: https://mellowharbor.cyou/
---

# Box breathing timer

Breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold: four equal counts, following the lantern around the square. Choose a count that feels easy and press start.

## How to breathe with the box

1. Sit or stand upright and let your shoulders drop. Rest your eyes on the square.
2. As the light climbs the left side, **breathe in** slowly through your nose.
3. Across the top, **hold** the breath gently, without clamping your throat.
4. Down the right side, **breathe out** through your nose or softly parted lips.
5. Along the bottom, **hold** with your lungs empty, then begin again.

The number in the middle counts each second, so you can close your eyes and follow the optional tones instead.

## Choosing a count

Four seconds per side is the classic box: one round takes 16 seconds, under four breaths a minute. Most adults breathe roughly 12 to 20 times a minute at rest, so even this is a big slow-down. If the holds feel tight, drop to three; if four feels rushed, try five or six. Comfort matters more than the number. Stop and breathe normally if you feel dizzy or short of breath.

## Sources

- Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. *Cell Reports Medicine* 2023;4(1):100895. [doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895)
- Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al. How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. *Frontiers in Human Neuroscience* 2018;12:353. [doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353](https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353)

## More ways to settle

Each tool has its own page. All of them work offline once the page has loaded.

- [4-7-8 breathing timer](https://mellowharbor.cyou/4-7-8-breathing/): Breathe in for 4, hold for 7, out for 8, with a guide for each count.
- [Guided breathing patterns](https://mellowharbor.cyou/breathing-patterns/): Resonance, long exhale, cyclic sigh and your own rhythm on a rising tide.
- [5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise](https://mellowharbor.cyou/5-4-3-2-1-grounding/): Notice five things you see, four you feel, three you hear, two you smell, one you taste.
- [Calm-down timer](https://mellowharbor.cyou/calm-down-timer/): A quiet countdown with gentle cues and a soft bell at the end.

## Recommended

Two free tools from elsewhere that help keep the rest of your screen time calm.

### A quieter inbox with CleanTempMail

Downloading a free worksheet or joining a one-off webinar? Give it a temporary address from CleanTempMail instead of your own: no sign-up, and the inbox deletes itself after three days, so follow-up marketing never reaches you.

[Get a temporary inbox](https://cleantempmail.com/)

### Open worrying links at arm's length

A link in a message that sets your heart racing? WebTraceCheck opens it in a disposable cloud browser on an isolated desktop that is deleted when you finish, so the page runs on a remote machine, not yours.

[Try the disposable browser](https://webtracecheck.com/)

## Questions

**Is box breathing safe for everyone?**

It is a gentle exercise for most people, but breath holds are not for everyone. If you are pregnant, have a heart or lung condition, or feel lightheaded, skip the holds and use an even or long-exhale rhythm on the [guided patterns](https://mellowharbor.cyou/breathing-patterns/) page instead, and ask your doctor if you are unsure.

**How long should I practise?**

Even three or four rounds can help you slow down. In a 2023 Stanford study, volunteers who did five minutes of breathwork a day for a month, box breathing among the exercises, reported a better mood; cyclic sighing helped most.

**Does the timer keep time if my screen turns off?**

Yes. Time is measured from the clock rather than counted in steps, so the light is in the right place when you come back. While a session runs, the page also asks your phone to keep the screen on where the browser allows it.