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- Be unable to sleep.
- Yep. It’s the insomnia ghost, again.
- Remember how to box breathe.
- Inhale for a count of 4. (Make sure to count to yourself without cheating the seconds, substituting “one-thousand”s or “Missippi”s between each passing number: 1… 2… 3… 4… )
- Hold the inhale for a count of 4. (Still no cheating. I’m onto you.)
- Exhale for a count of 4. (I hope you’re not cheating.)
- Hold the exhale for a count of 4. (Oh, you better not be cheating this count.)
- Repeat the process for a few more cycles: inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4, inhale for 4… etc.
- Forget which cycle you’re on.
- Forget why you started box breathing.
- Forget lots of things.
- Wonder if this state — heart rate reduced, breathing evened, mind singular and slow (or at least, slower than before, when it was too mind-full and constantly rushing) — is what they mean by “meditation.”
- Don’t actually wonder. It feels pretty meditative.
- Consider it good enough.
- Maybe a few things to work on. (Like a little more control on the inhale-hold, to feel if your diaphragm can be still for just a little longer — )
- Fall asleep.
