Box breathing (4-4-4-4) and triangle breathing (4-4-8) are both paced breathing techniques that calm your nervous system, but their patterns and effects differ. Box breathing creates perfect symmetry: equal inhale, hold, exhale, hold. Triangle breathing uses a longer exhale, emphasizing the parasympathetic activation that exhale produces. Both are effective, but serve different purposes.
Box breathing is the foundational technique. Its perfect balance and symmetry make it easy to learn and sustainable for long sessions. It produces stable calm and focus without dramatic activation or release. Athletes, military personnel, and anyone needing straightforward nervous system regulation use box breathing daily.
Triangle breathing emphasizes exhale—the phase that most directly activates parasympathetic function. The longer exhale (8 counts) produces more pronounced nervous system shift. It's ideal when you need rapid anxiety reduction, emotional release, or deep parasympathetic activation. But the longer exhale makes it harder to sustain for entire sessions.