Slow and even
The steady one. In and out the same length, about five and a half breaths a minute.
Patternin 5.5 · out 5.5
Pace5.5 a minute
Try5 minutes
Ready
If you feel dizzy or light-headed, stop and breathe normally. That's all it is.
How
- Breathe in through your nose while the circle grows.
- Breathe out while it shrinks. Through the nose or the mouth, either is fine.
- Don't force it. If it feels like too much air, breathe a little smaller.
- If your mind wanders, that's normal. Come back to the next breath.
Why this pace
Around five or six breaths a minute is where, for many people, heart rate and breathing start to rise and fall together. Researchers call this resonance breathing. Most people find it calming within a few minutes.
Where this comes from
- Lehrer and Gevirtz (2014), Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? - Frontiers in Psychology. Explains resonance breathing at about six breaths a minute.
- Zaccaro and others (2018), How breath-control can change your life - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. A review of slow breathing studies.
More: all the breaths · What do I need?