How do you use the breathing timer?
- Choose a pattern. If you are unsure, start with slow breathing: five seconds in, five seconds out.
- Choose a session length. Five minutes is the default, for reasons covered below.
- Sit or lie down and press start. Breathe in as the circle grows, hold while it stays still, and breathe out as it shrinks. The number in the middle counts down the seconds left in each step.
- Keep it comfortable. If a count feels too long, switch to a pattern with shorter steps rather than straining to keep up.
- Finish the session. The timer always ends on a complete breath, so the last one is never cut off halfway.
The timer runs in your browser and stores nothing. Where your device allows it, the screen stays awake while a session is running, so your phone will not dim halfway through.
Which breathing pattern should you choose?
All five slow your breathing down. The differences are in the holds, and in how each breath is split between breathing in and breathing out.
| Pattern | Timing in seconds | Breaths a minute | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow breathing | 5 in, 5 out | 6 | A first practice, and the simplest pattern to follow |
| Longer exhale | 4 in, 6 out | 6 | Anyone who finds a long in-breath uncomfortable |
| Cyclic sighing | 3 in, 1 top-up, 6 out | 6 | A short daily practice, and the pattern with the largest mood effect in the study below |
| Box breathing | 4 in, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold | About 4 | A pattern that is easy to remember and count in your head |
| 4-7-8 breathing | 4 in, 7 hold, 8 out | About 3 | People who are comfortable with long breath holds |
There is no single agreed definition of slow breathing. One systematic review in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience counted anything under 10 breaths a minute, and a 2023 review of breathing for stress and anxiety used under 12. Every pattern here sits well below both.
The timings are our own choices, built to be comfortable rather than copied from a single trial. That matters most for 4-7-8. It is widely taught, but none of the studies cited on this page tested that exact count, so treat it as one comfortable option rather than an evidence-based protocol.
How long should you breathe for?
Five minutes or more, if you can. The 2023 review looked at 58 studies and concluded that "Effective breath practices avoided fast-only breath paces and sessions <5 min, while including human-guided training, multiple sessions, and long-term practice."
Two things follow from that. Length matters, which is why the timer defaults to five minutes. And repetition matters, which is why it is built for a short session you can come back to every day rather than one long sitting.
The one-minute option is there for the moments when a minute is all you have. It is a useful pause, but it is shorter than the sessions that review linked to benefit.
What does the research on breathing exercises show?
Five minutes a day lifted mood in one study
In a 28-day study published in Cell Reports Medicine, 108 volunteers spent five minutes a day on cyclic sighing, box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation or mindfulness meditation. The breathing groups had a larger rise in daily positive mood than the meditation group, and cyclic sighing stood out: that group had "a significantly higher increase in positive affect than those in the mindfulness meditation group".
The authors are clear about the limits. The study was run remotely, which "limited the monitoring of how closely participants followed the instructions", and its findings are "limited to 4 weeks with no additional follow up." Their box breathing also used counts adjusted to each person, which is not the same as the fixed four-second version here.
The wider evidence points one way, but it is not strong
The authors of the 58-study review are frank about their own field: "Due to the mediocre-at-best methodological quality of included studies, some effectiveness findings may not be as reliable or valid as assumed." The earlier review of slow breathing found only 15 eligible studies out of 2,461 abstracts, and could not combine their results because the studies differed so much in design, groups and outcomes.
So the honest picture is a consistent direction of effect, very low risk, no cost, and study quality that does not justify bigger promises. That is a good reason to try the timer. It is not a treatment for anxiety, and it is not a substitute for care if anxiety is affecting your daily life. For what slow breathing does inside the body, see does slow breathing really change your heart rate?
Is it safe to use a breathing timer?
For most people, yes. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health lists breathing exercises among relaxation techniques and states that "Relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people." It also notes "rare reports that certain relaxation techniques might cause or worsen symptoms in people with epilepsy or certain psychiatric conditions, or with a history of abuse or trauma."
- Sit or lie down. Light-headedness is much less of a problem when you cannot fall.
- Stop if you feel dizzy or tingly, and go back to breathing normally.
- Skip the holds if they feel uncomfortable. Slow breathing and the longer exhale have no holds at all.
- Never practise in water or while driving.
Every pattern on this timer is slow. Fast, forceful breathing styles are a different practice with documented side effects, covered in is breathwork safe? If you have a health condition and are unsure whether breathing exercises suit you, ask a clinician first.
How do you make it a habit?
Attach it to something you already do every day: after brushing your teeth, before opening your laptop, or as the last step of winding down for bed. A fixed cue makes the practice automatic, which is the repetition the research keeps pointing to.
For the thinking behind the techniques, start with our beginner's guide to breathwork, then read what actually happens in your body when you are stressed. The full guide to breathwork puts every technique in context.
