Breathing Exercise Timer (Box, 4-7-8, Coherent)

About the Breathing Exercise Timer (Box, 4-7-8, Coherent)

A calm, guided breathing pacer. A circle grows as you breathe in, stays full while you hold and shrinks as you breathe out, with the seconds counting down and, if you like, a soft rising tone for each in-breath and a falling one for each out-breath, a spoken cue from your device’s own voice, or a short vibration. Choose box breathing (4-4-4-4), 4-7-8, coherent or resonance breathing at about 5.5–6 breaths a minute, cyclic sighing (the “physiological sigh”), the NHS calm breathing exercise, or set your own counts, then choose how long the session lasts.

It is a relaxation aid, not a treatment. The page explains what each pattern is, what the research behind it found — and what it did not — and when to stop.

The patterns and what the research says

• Coherent (resonance) breathing. When you breathe slowly your heart rate speeds up a little on each in-breath and slows on each out-breath. Most studies find that this swing is largest at about six breaths a minute; refined measurements put the average resonance rate at about 5.5 a minute (a breath every 11 seconds), and it differs between people — taller people and men tend to have lower rates. Heart-rate-variability biofeedback trains people to breathe at their own resonance rate.
• Cyclic sighing. A slow breath in through the nose, a second shorter breath in to fill the lungs, then a long, slow breath out through the mouth. In a randomised study of 108 adults practising five minutes a day for a month, every group — including mindfulness meditation — felt less anxious, but cyclic sighing improved mood and lowered the resting breathing rate more than meditation did. The study was small, remote and exploratory.
• Box breathing. Equal counts in, hold, out and hold — often 4 seconds each. In the same study participants shortened the counts if they had to strain.
• 4-7-8. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. A study comparing techniques called square and 4-7-8 breathing popular but with little empirical support, and found that breathing at 6 breaths a minute raised heart rate variability more than either — while also noting mild over-breathing at that pace. None of the patterns changed blood pressure or mood much in that single session.
• NHS calm breathing. Breathe in gently through the nose and out through the mouth, counting from 1 to 5 each way, for at least 5 minutes — in practice the same rhythm as coherent breathing.

How to breathe with the timer

• Sit in a chair that supports your back or lie down, feet flat and about hip-width apart, shoulders relaxed.
• Let the breath flow down into your belly as far as is comfortable, without forcing it. Slow breathing should feel easy, not like a workout.
• If a count is too long, make it shorter. If you are short of breath, stop the holds first.
• A few minutes a day is how the studies used these exercises; regular practice was what made a difference in the cyclic-sighing study.

When to stop

Over-breathing — breathing more than your body needs — can make you feel light-headed, dizzy or weak, short of breath, or give you tingling in your arms or around your mouth, a pounding heart or chest discomfort (MedlinePlus). If that happens, stop and breathe normally. Chest pain or sudden breathlessness can also be a medical emergency: get help.

The cyclic-sighing study excluded people with heart disease, glaucoma, a history of seizures, pregnancy and some psychiatric conditions, so its findings say nothing about them. If any applies to you, ask your doctor before practising breath holds. If anxiety or panic affects your daily life, breathing exercises can help you relax, but talk to a doctor about treatment as well.

Timing, sound and privacy

The timer works out the current phase from the time since you pressed Start rather than counting ticks, so it does not drift, and the tones are scheduled ahead on the audio clock. Spoken cues use only voices installed on your device. Vibration works in browsers that support it (most Android phones; not iPhone). Keep the page open: phones may pause web pages when the screen locks, so the timer asks to keep the screen on where it can. Nothing you do is sent anywhere.

Sources

• Lehrer PM, Gevirtz R. Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Front Psychol
• Balban MY et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Rep Med
• Marchant J et al. Comparing the effects of square, 4-7-8, and 6 breaths-per-minute breathing conditions on heart rate variability, CO2 levels, and mood. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback
• NHS, Breathing exercises for stress
• MedlinePlus, Hyperventilation

Limitations

• A pacer cannot tell how you are breathing or what your own resonance rate is; heart-rate biofeedback devices measure that.
• It is not a treatment for anxiety, panic, asthma, high blood pressure or any other condition.
• The page must stay open for the cues. Phones can pause pages when the screen locks; iPhones in silent mode may mute web page sounds.
• Sessions run from 1 to 60 minutes and always end after a complete breath, so the time can differ from the length you chose by a few seconds.

Privacy

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