What a breathing pacer does
A breathing pacer gives you a shape or dot that grows and shrinks at a set speed. You follow it with your breath instead of counting seconds in your head. That matters because counting pulls your attention to numbers, and the breath tends to tighten when you do that. A visual pacer keeps the pace steady and lets you relax into the rhythm.
This page runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to the site. The patterns below are the ones most people ask for, and each has a different origin and a different feel.
The patterns on this pacer
Resonance frequency breathing
Resonance frequency breathing means breathing slowly at your own personal rate, usually between 4.5 and 6.5 breaths a minute. At that rate the swings in heart rate that follow breathing become largest, so heart rate variability (HRV, the beat-to-beat variation in heart rate) is highest [Lehrer & Gevirtz 2014; Vaschillo, Vaschillo & Lehrer 2006]. The rate differs between people. In Vaschillo, Vaschillo and Lehrer's 2006 data on 56 adults, it was lower in taller people and lower in men than women, with no link to age or weight [Vaschillo et al. 2006].
The standard way to find your rate is to breathe at each of 6.5, 6, 5.5, 5 and 4.5 breaths a minute for about two minutes while an HRV sensor records, then pick the rate with the largest heart-rate swings [Lehrer, Vaschillo & Vaschillo 2000]. Leah Lagos's book Heart Breath Mind (2020) describes the same test for the general reader, then a ten-week program of practice at the chosen rate, typically twice a day for about twenty minutes, with the exhale longer than the inhale. This site's resonance test follows the same rates and timing. Without a sensor you rate each rate by comfort, which is a starting point rather than a measurement. With a chest strap and an HRV app you can enter the app's reading for each rate and the highest wins.
On the resonance pages here the inhale-to-exhale ratio is 40:60, as Lehrer's manual and Lagos's book prescribe. The rates used on this site are: 4.5 breaths a minute is 13.3 seconds a breath (inhale 5.3 s, exhale 8 s); 5 is 12 s (4.8 / 7.2); 5.5 is 10.9 s (4.4 / 6.5); 6 is 10 s (4 / 6); 6.5 is 9.2 s (3.7 / 5.5); 7 is 8.6 s (3.4 / 5.1); 7.5 is 8 s (3.2 / 4.8).
Coherent breathing
Coherent breathing is slow breathing at about five to six breaths a minute with equal inhale and exhale. Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg popularised the term in The Healing Power of the Breath (2012), and it is related to the "heart coherence" pattern described by the HeartMath Institute. It uses a fixed rate near the population average rather than a personally tested one. The slow-breathing evidence below applies. You can read more on the coherent breathing page.
Box breathing
Box breathing is inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4, which is 3.75 breaths a minute. It is widely taught in military and first-responder stress training, and Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL, popularised it. Trials of box breathing specifically are few. It is a slow-breathing practice with holds, so the slow-breathing evidence applies in general. In the 2023 Stanford study below, box breathing was one of the arms, and cyclic sighing showed the larger mood improvement [Balban et al. 2023]. Holds can feel uncomfortable. Shorter holds of 2 or 3 seconds are a reasonable way to start. See the box breathing timer.
4-7-8 breathing
4-7-8 breathing is inhale 4 seconds, hold 7, exhale 8, which is about 3.2 breaths a minute. Dr. Andrew Weil popularised it as a relaxation and sleep exercise, and he suggests four cycles at a time to begin. Evidence specific to 4-7-8 is thin. The pattern is slow breathing with a long exhale and a hold, so the general slow-breathing evidence applies. The 7-second hold is hard at first. Build up over days. See the 4-7-8 breathing timer.
Physiological sigh (cyclic sighing)
A physiological sigh is a full inhale through the nose, a short second inhale to top up the lungs, then a long exhale through the mouth. In a remote randomized controlled study over one month, five minutes a day of breathwork, and cyclic sighing in particular, produced greater improvement in mood and a greater reduction in breathing rate than an equal period of mindfulness meditation. The other breathing arms were box breathing and cyclic hyperventilation with retention. The authors (Balban, Huberman, Spiegel and colleagues at Stanford) call daily cyclic sighing promising as a stress-management exercise [Balban et al. 2023]. It is one study, run remotely with self-reported mood. The senior author later became an advisor to a wearables company, which the paper discloses. Andrew Huberman's podcast made the technique widely known. See the physiological sigh page.
What the research supports
A 2020 meta-analysis of 58 randomized controlled studies of HRV biofeedback (training at the resonance frequency with feedback) found a small to moderate effect in its favour. The effect was largest for anxiety, depression, anger and athletic or artistic performance, and smallest for PTSD, sleep and quality of life, with each based on a small number of studies. The authors describe it as useful as a complementary approach and say further research is needed for particular uses [Lehrer et al. 2020].
A 2017 study at Brigham Young University compared three groups for 15 minutes: breathing at the individual resonance frequency, breathing one breath a minute faster, and sitting quietly. The resonance group reported higher positive mood than the other two, showed a higher LF/HF HRV ratio than the control group, and had lower systolic blood pressure during a stressful mental task afterwards [Steffen et al. 2017].
A 2018 systematic review of 15 studies in healthy people found slow breathing (under 10 breaths a minute) associated with increased HRV and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, EEG changes (more alpha, less theta), and reports of increased comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigor and alertness and reduced arousal, anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. The review is of healthy subjects and the studies are small [Zaccaro et al. 2018].
A 2017 review describes the physiology of slow breathing: at around six breaths a minute, breathing and the blood-pressure rhythm of the baroreflex line up, which is why heart-rate swings grow [Russo, Santarelli & O'Rourke 2017]. Normal ranges and metrics for HRV are described in Shaffer & Ginsberg 2017. These are associations from small or moderate studies, not proof, and individual results vary.
How to choose a length and a rate
For the resonance test, two minutes per rate is enough. For daily practice, twenty minutes a day is the dose in Lagos's program and in most HRV biofeedback studies [Lehrer et al. 2020]. If twenty minutes feels like a lot, start with five and add a few minutes each week. The rate matters more than the length for resonance training. Use the resonance test to find your rate, or start with 5.5 breaths a minute if you have no sensor.
Normal resting breathing for adults is about 12 to 20 breaths a minute [Russo et al. 2017]. All the patterns here are slower than that, which is the point.
Worked example
Suppose you choose 5.5 breaths a minute. That is 10.9 seconds a breath. With a 40:60 ratio, the inhale is 4.4 seconds and the exhale is 6.5 seconds. If you practise for twenty minutes, you complete about 110 breaths. If you use coherent breathing instead, the same 5.5 rate gives 5.45 seconds in and 5.45 seconds out.
Nose breathing and keeping the breath light
Breathe through the nose where possible. Keep the breath light and unforced. Over-breathing causes light-headedness. Sit or lie comfortably. Stop if you feel dizzy. Slow breathing can lower blood pressure and heart rate, so people on medication for either should ask their clinician.
Anyone who is pregnant, has a heart or lung condition, a history of fainting, panic disorder, or epilepsy, or is being treated for a mental health condition should check with a clinician first. Nothing on this site is medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment.
Sensors and apps
A Bluetooth chest strap (for example the Polar H10) with an HRV app (for example Elite HRV, HRV4Biofeedback or Kubios) records beat-to-beat intervals. The app shows an HRV figure (RMSSD or the amplitude of heart-rate swings) for each rate, which is the number to enter. Wrist wearables (watches and rings) measure HRV overnight and are not suited to a two-minute paced test. The site sells no device and has no affiliate relationship with device makers. Books only, disclosed on /books/. See the HRV chest strap page for more.