I never knew how much breathwork would end up saving my life until the day I had to stand up and speak at my husband’s funeral.

Eight years earlier, I had started taking yoga classes—just something gentle for my body and a little peace of mind. Breathwork was simply part of the practice back then. I didn’t think too much about it. I just followed the teacher: inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four… over and over. Box breathing. It felt nice, but I never imagined it was training for survival.

Then my husband died.

In the days and weeks that followed, grief hit like a tidal wave. There were moments I was certain I would shatter—literally fall apart right there on the floor. But something astonishing happened: my body remembered. Without thinking, I would drop into the breath. Inhale four… hold… exhale four… hold. Over and over. My nervous system knew exactly what to do because I had practiced it thousands of times in those quiet yoga classes when nothing was wrong.

The morning of the funeral, as I walked toward the podium, the panic started rising. My chest tightened, my knees went weak, tears were already burning. And then—almost like a reflex—my body switched on the breath. I felt it happen: I began watching the inhale, counting the hold, guiding the exhale. “You’re okay,” I silently told myself with every cycle. “You’re okay.” The breath held me together when nothing else could. I spoke. I didn’t fall apart. I made it through.

That was the big, dramatic moment everyone pictures when they think of trauma. But honestly – the breath saves me in the small moments too. Stuck in traffic and feeling frustrated—four, four, four, four. A hard conversation where my heart is racing—four, four, four, four. My body defaults to it now, like flipping a switch from chaos to calm.

I later learned the Navy SEALs teach this exact technique to stay clear-headed in life-or-death situations. Hospitals now teach it to patients for pain management. If something that simple and free is strong enough for SEALs under fire and for people enduring surgery, then it’s more than strong enough for the rest of us in traffic, in grief, in everyday stress.

I’m so deeply grateful that I accidentally trained for the hardest days of my life during all those ordinary yoga classes. The breath was there waiting for me when I needed it most—and it’s still here for me every single day.

If you’ve ever wondered whether learning to breathe “on purpose” is worth it, let my story be the answer: yes. A thousand times yes. Because one day you might need your body to save you—and it will already know how. 💙

💙 What Box Breathing Is (Super Simple)
Box breathing (also called 4-4-4-4 breathing or square breathing) is a technique where you:
1    Inhale through the nose for a count of 4
2    Hold the breath for a count of 4
3    Exhale through the nose (or mouth) for a count of 4
4    Hold empty for a count of 4
…then repeat.
That’s it. No apps, no equipment, no cost—just you and your breath.