There are a lot of breathwork exercises that are great for practicing whenever you need to relax. One of them is the box breathing technique. And if you’re new to box breathing, there are plenty of box breathing apps that can guide you through the exercise.
So, if you’re ready to explore some options, this guide will help you choose the best box breathing app for you. Here’s what we’ll cover:
- An introduction to the box breathing technique
- 18 best box breathing apps for relaxation and anxiety relief
To start, let’s build a better understanding of the box breathing technique before exploring the best apps for practicing it.
If you’d prefer to try a meditation app, check out our guide to the best meditation apps for anxiety.
An introduction to the box breathing technique
Before choosing a box breathing app, you should know whether or not box breathing is the right breathwork exercise for you. This section covers everything you should know about box breathing.
What is box breathing?
Box breathing (also known as square breathing, 4-4-4-4 breathing, or sama vritti) is a breathwork technique that is practiced for mindfulness and relaxation. It involves slow, deep breathing at equal intervals. This breathing exercise has been practiced for many years, and is great for breathwork beginners.
How to do box breathing
The box breathing technique is very easy to do anytime and anywhere. Start by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. Then inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and hold your breath again for another 4 seconds. You can repeat these steps as many times as desired.
Top 5 benefits of box breathing for your health
In general, there are plenty of breathwork benefits that come from regular practice. These are some of the benefits specific to the box breathing exercise:
- Relieves stress and anxiety: Slow, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping the body to exit fight-or-flight mode.
- Improves sleep: Mindful breathing relieves any anxious energy or thoughts, making it easier to enter a restful state.
- Lowers blood pressure: Blood pressure can rise while under stress, so activating the parasympathetic nervous system to relieve stress can lower blood pressure.
- Improves focus: The exercise can help calm racing thoughts, allowing for better focus and improved attention span.
- Promotes relaxation: Those wanting to unwind after a long day can practice the technique as a signal to the body that it’s safe, creating a state of calm.
18 best box breathing apps for relaxation and anxiety relief
There are plenty of breathwork apps available, making it difficult to narrow down which ones to use for box breathing. To help you find the app that’s right for you, here are our recommendations for the best box breathing apps.
1. Othership
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: $17.99/month or $129.99/year with 7-day and 14-day free trials, respectively.
Features: 500+ classes, inspiring soundscapes, streak & progress tracking, and a global community.
Othership is a breathing app with the goal of helping users experience the full benefits of breathwork. There are over 500 guided sessions that cover a wide range of breathing exercises and breathwork techniques, including box breathing. All classes are taught by the world's best facilitators and feature inspiring soundscapes to help practitioners get the most out of their breathwork practice.
2. Unbeatable Mind Box Breathing
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: $4.99
Features: Guided breathing exercises, calming audio, progress tracking, and an intention-setting feature.
The official Unbeatable Mind Box Breathing app allows you to develop a box breathing practice. You can use this app to track your goals and create a box breathing practice that suits your needs. Mark Divine’s box breathing app uses visual and audio guides and gamification techniques to help you on your way to better breathing and health.
3. Box Breathe
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: $1.99; additional in-app purchases available.
Features: Classic & free-form modes, weekly scheduling & reminders, a timer, and Apple Health integration.
Box Breathe is a box breathing app for iPhone that’s designed to help people easily practice meditation and yogic breathing. Its simplistic design and customizations help users to follow breathing exercises that are most beneficial to them. The app can also track progress and send customized reminders to help users successfully achieve their breathwork goals.
4. Breethe: Meditation & Sleep
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $12.99/month, $89.99/year, or $179.99 to unlock all features.
Features: Ever-growing library, guided meditations & breathing exercises, hypnotherapy, and a personalized toolkit.
Breethe is a meditation app that aims to help you relax throughout the day. The app is designed to be used around busy schedules, whether you need a quick guided meditation to relax during the day or a sleep story to help you fall asleep at night. The personalized toolkit feature equips you with the tools you need to prioritize your self-care, which include meditations, hypnotherapy, breathing exercises, and more.
5. Breathwrk: Breathing Exercises
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; monthly, yearly, and lifetime subscriptions available.
Features: Guided breathing exercises; music, haptic, and visual cues; vast library; and custom reminders.
Another breathwork app that offers a wide range of breathing exercises is Breathwrk. Its library is full of different exercises and classes covering different techniques – like box breathing, for one – and providing many different benefits. You can also customize your sounds, visuals, haptics, and even breath coaches to help create your desired breathwork sessions.
6. Oak - Meditation & Breathing
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: Free to use; in-app purchases available.
Features: Guided meditations, meditation courses, breathing exercises, and soothing background sounds.
Oak is a free guided meditation and breathwork app that helps make mindfulness a habit. The app offers a variety of guided meditations and breathing exercises, covering a variety of topics, to help you feel more calm. You can even fully customize sessions and track your progress.
7. Breathe+ Simple Breath Trainer
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $0.99/month, $4.99/year, or $8.99 to unlock all features.
Features: Breath visualization, guided sessions from 1-60 minutes, breath cycle counter, and customizable intervals.
Breathe+ is a breathwork app that gives you full control over your breathing exercises. The app allows you to fully customize the length and intervals of your sessions, making it really easy to practice box breathing. Also, the beautiful guided visualizations and reminders make it easy to stick to your breathwork practice.
8. Breathe: relax & focus
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to use; in-app purchases available.
Features: 3 default breathing exercises, custom breathing patterns, reminders, and Apple Health integration.
Breathe is another box breathing app that’s free, with breathing exercises to help you relax and relieve stress. It has 3 different breathing exercises: equal breathing, box breathing, and 4-7-8 breathing. All of them are easy to learn and can help you feel better. The app also lets you customize your own breathing patterns, as well as your preferences for each session.
9. BreatheIn: Calm Breathing
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: $0.99
Features: 5 breathing exercises, guided breathwork, data tracking, and Apple Health integration.
Another app with some easy-to-follow breathing exercises is BreatheIn. This app contains a few different exercises, including square breathing, for the purposes of relaxation and regeneration. The beautiful imagery will help guide you through each breathwork session, and your progress can be saved to the Apple Health app.
10. 3 Minute Mindfulness
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: Free to access basic features; $0.99/month, $4.99/year, or $8.99 to unlock all features.
Features: 7 Days of Mindfulness course, guided meditations, breathing exercises, and customizable reminders.
3 Minute Mindfulness is an app designed to help users feel happy and calm in just a few minutes. The app contains meditations and breathing exercises, like box breathing, that are easy to follow and promote quick relaxation. It also offers the 7 Days of Mindfulness course, which teaches the basics of living mindfully.
11. Steady: The Breathing App
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: $4.99/month or $20.99/year
Features: 4 default programs, various customizations, daily reminders, and monthly goals.
Steady is a box breathing app for Android and iPhone that helps you fight stress and anxiety. It uses simplistic imagery to guide you through several helpful breathing exercises, like box breathing or 4-7-8 breathing. You can also use the app to set monthly goals, and receive badges for achieving different milestones.
12. Insight Timer
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $9.99/month or $59.99/year to unlock all features.
Features: Live sessions, guided meditations, select by time option, and discussion groups & community features.
Insight Timer is a popular meditation app that allows you to relax and live healthier. Their large catalog of guided meditations, which includes breathing exercises like box breathing, are designed to help you make mindfulness a daily habit. It also includes a meditation timer, allowing you to meditate on your terms.
13. Headspace: Mindful Meditation
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $12.99/month or $69.99/year to unlock all features.
Features: Guided meditations, daily meditations, breathwork courses, and Apple Health integration.
Headspace, another top meditation app, is also great for helping users release stress. This app is full of hundreds of guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, including breathing exercises, that can help address stress, sleep, and focus. There are plenty of shorter sessions for those who are busy, or longer sessions for those who have time to relax.
14. Calm
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $14.99/month, $69.99/year, or $399.99 to unlock all features.
Features: Daily 10-minute meditations; 7-day and 21-day mindfulness programs; mindful stretching and movement; and breathing exercises.
Another top meditation app with guided breathing exercises is Calm. Beginners to mindfulness will benefit from the variety of guided meditations, sleep stories, breathing exercises (including box breathing), and soundscapes. There's also mindfulness programs for both beginners and advanced users, helping anyone and everyone make positive changes in their life.
15. Aura: Meditation & Sleep
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $11.99/month or $59.99/year to unlock all features.
Features: Personalized recommendations, thousands of tracks to choose from, CBT and hypnosis, and new content daily.
Aura is a mindfulness app dedicated to being an all-in-one app for mental wellness. The app uses your needs and interests to offer you uniquely personalized recommendations of meditations, stories, CBT, hypnosis, breathing exercises, and more. It will continue to learn more about you and provide you with never-ending recommendations as you continue to use the app.
16. Simple Habit
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $11.99/month or $95.99/year to unlock all features.
Features: Guided meditation and mindfulness sessions; daily motivation; guided sleep sessions; and Apple Health integration.
Previously featured on Shark Tank, Simple Habit offers mindfulness and meditations to users wanting to improve their wellness. Its library is full of guided meditations and breathing exercises that can help relieve stress and improve sleep. The app also features coaching content and motivational talks for those looking for a little inspiration.
17. Breathe In: Meditation & Sleep
Download it Now: iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $0.99/month, $5.99/year, or $15.99 to unlock all features.
Features: Breathing exercises, guided 5-minute meditations, mindfulness quotes, and Apple Health integration.
Breathe In is another great app for breathing exercises and guided meditations. This beautiful app is full of easy-to-follow instructions and guided visuals to help you master several breathwork techniques, including box breathing. The app is organized by topic, so you can choose the right exercises for whatever you'd like to improve upon.
18. Stop Breathe Think: Meditation
Download it Now: Android | iOS
Cost: Free to start using; $9.99/month, $58.99/year, or $249.99 to unlock all features.
Features: Breathing exercises, personalized meditation recommendations, mood tracker, and sleeping exercises.
Formerly known as MyLife Meditation, Stop Breathe Think is another wonderful mindfulness app. Like many others, it features a variety of guided meditations and breathing exercises that target your mood and feelings. The app lets you track your mood over time with daily check-ins, and it also includes sleep sounds for those who need help falling asleep.
So, if you’re ready to start practicing box breathing now, see what others are saying about the Othership app.
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