Fear, worry and anxiety during the coronavirus pandemic debilitates your mental and physical health. Amid this growing mental health crisis, some medical doctors are now prescribing a deep breathing technique for patients and physicians alike, nicknamed “box breathing.”

Intentional deep breathing exercises are known to reduce feelings of stress. Experts interviewed by ABC News identify box breathing as a type of breath hold specifically used to overcome the type of anxiety people are experiencing during these distressing times.

Initially honed by elite fighters as a wartime stress-fighting tactic, this breathing technique is now taking hold among health care workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Box breathing describes the pattern of inhaling slowly and deeply through your nose to the count of four. You inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds and then repeat in four seconds — making a square pattern. Practiced regularly, it has been