A free guided breathing exercise for a quick stress reset: pick box breathing, cyclic sighing, slow 6-a-minute breathing or 4-7-8, choose 1 to 5 minutes and follow the circle as it grows and shrinks. Use it before sleep, before a big meeting or after training. Your streak and minutes are saved on this device only.
How to use this breathing exercise
Sit or lie comfortably, relax your shoulders and let your belly move as you breathe. Press Start and follow the circle: it grows as you breathe in, stays still while you hold and shrinks as you breathe out. The number counts down the seconds of each step. Breathe in through your nose where you can, and keep every breath smooth and quiet rather than big and forced. If a count feels too long, breathe more lightly; you should finish feeling calmer, not straining.
Soft tones and voice cues are off by default. Tick them before you press Start if you want to close your eyes. The screen stays on during a session where your browser allows it. If your device is set to reduce motion, the circle stays still and a progress bar shows each step instead.
When to use it
- Before sleep: slow breathing or 4-7-8 in bed, lights off, for 3 to 5 minutes. Pair it with a regular bedtime from the sleep calculator.
- Before a meeting, presentation or big match: 1 to 2 minutes of cyclic sighing or box breathing to settle nerves and sharpen focus.
- After training: 2 to 3 minutes of slow breathing while you cool down helps you switch from “go” mode to recovery.
- During a stressful day: a 1-minute reset between calls. Small, frequent doses add up; see our guide to recovering from chronic stress.
The four patterns and what the evidence says
Cyclic sighing is a slow breath in through the nose, a second short sip of air to fill the lungs, then a long, slow breath out through the mouth. In a 2023 Stanford study published in Cell Reports Medicine, 108 people did 5 minutes a day of either breathwork or mindfulness meditation for a month. Cyclic sighing gave the biggest daily rise in positive mood and lowered resting breathing rate more than mindfulness. The study’s timing was self-paced; here we use about 3 seconds in, a 1-second top-up and 6 seconds out.
Box breathing uses equal counts of in, hold, out and hold. It was one of the practices in the same study. People with longer breath-holding comfort used longer counts, so if 4 seconds feels hard, breathe more lightly or stop.
Slow breathing at about 6 breaths a minute (here, 4 seconds in and 6 out) is close to the “resonance” pace used in heart rate variability biofeedback. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis found that voluntary slow breathing increases vagally mediated HRV during practice and shortly afterwards. Learn what HRV tells you in HRV explained.
4-7-8 breathing was popularised by Dr Andrew Weil: in through the nose for 4, hold for 7, out through the mouth with a whoosh for 8. Many people like it for winding down, but research is limited to small studies, such as one in 44 young adults that found short-term changes in heart rate and blood pressure. Dr Weil’s handout suggests no more than four breaths at a time for the first month, which is what the 1-minute option gives you.
Breathing exercises pair well with a short daily meditation habit; start with meditation for busy men, and track your stress and sleep habits alongside training in My Fitness Hub.
Sources
- Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Rep Med. 2023;4(1):100895.
- Laborde S, Allen MS, Borges U, et al. Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022;138:104711.
- Vierra J, et al. Effects of sleep deprivation and 4-7-8 breathing control on heart rate variability, blood pressure, blood glucose, and endothelial function in healthy young adults. Physiol Rep. 2022.
- Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona. 4-7-8 breathing patient handout.
This breathing exercise is general education, not medical advice or treatment. It is not a substitute for care for anxiety, panic attacks, breathing problems or heart conditions. If you have chest pain, severe shortness of breath or feel faint, stop and seek urgent medical help.
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