Breathing pacer
Breathe in as the circle grows and out as it shrinks. Choose your rate, an equal or longer out-breath, and how long to keep going. No strap or app needed.
Press Start, then breathe in as the circle grows and out as it shrinks.Press Start, then follow the words. The bar fills once for each breath in and each breath out.
6 breaths a minute: in for 4.0 s, out for 6.0 s
Time 0:00 of 5:00
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Why about 6 breaths a minute
Your heart rate rises a little as you breathe in and falls as you breathe out. At about 6 breaths a minute these swings grow much larger, because the swing from breathing lines up with the swing from the baroreflex, the reflex that steadies blood pressure, and the two add up. This is called resonance (Lehrer and Gevirtz, 2014).
Six is an average. The best rate differs a little from person to person, usually between 4.5 and 6.5 breaths a minute. A longer out-breath than in-breath is often recommended, though some studies found no difference in HRV between the two (Shaffer and Meehan, 2020). To find your own rate, use the resonance mode of the chest-strap test: it paces five rates while a Bluetooth chest strap records your heart rate, then ranks the rates by the size of the swing. Set that rate here.
Use the pacer to relax and to practise slow breathing. It is not a treatment and cannot diagnose anything. Breathe gently through your nose and do not force big breaths. Stop and breathe normally if you feel dizzy or light-headed.
Sources
- Lehrer PM, Gevirtz R. Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology 2014;5:756. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00756
- Shaffer F, Meehan ZM. A practical guide to resonance frequency assessment for heart rate variability biofeedback. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2020;14:570400. doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.570400