How to use the breathing exercise
- Choose a pattern: Box 4-4-4-4, 4-7-8, Calm 4-6 or Custom with your own seconds for each step.
- Pick how long to breathe for (1 to 10 minutes, or no limit) and press Start or Space.
- Breathe in as the circle grows, hold while it stays still and breathe out as it shrinks. The number counts down the seconds of each step.
How the guide works
The circle grows over the length of each in-breath, stays still during a hold and shrinks over the out-breath, so you can follow it without reading. The step name and a countdown sit in the middle. A session ends at the end of the breath in which its time runs out, so you never stop halfway through a breath.
With the screen on and the page in front, the guide also asks your device to keep the screen awake while a session runs, where the browser supports it.
Choosing a pattern
- Box breathing (4-4-4-4) has four equal steps and is easy to remember anywhere.
- 4-7-8 has long holds and a long out-breath. Beginners often find a shorter version in Custom more comfortable at first.
- Calm 4-6 has no holds at all, which suits people who find holding the breath unpleasant.
- Custom takes any whole number of seconds from 0 to 30 for each step. Set a hold to 0 to skip it.