Slow, even breaths, about five and a half a minute, in and out for the same time. There are no counts to keep: just follow the guide.
How to practise Coherent breathing
- Sit or lie comfortably. Rest a hand on your belly if it helps.
- Breathe in through your nose as the guide grows, gently and without effort.
- Breathe out through your nose as it shrinks, just as slowly.
- Keep the breaths soft and roomy, not big. The pace matters more than the size.
- If 5.5 seconds feels long, shorten both steps in Adjust rhythm.
Each round, step by step
| Step | Seconds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Inhale | 5.5 | Follow the guide in, soft and slow. |
| Exhale | 5.5 | Follow the guide out. No need to empty fully. |
Take care
Keep breaths gentle. If you feel dizzy or tingly, stop and breathe normally.
- Keep breaths gentle and roomy, never big. Big breaths can make you lightheaded.
- It’s fine to shorten the steps. Straining isn’t the goal.
- If you feel dizzy, tingly, breathless, or uncomfortable, stop and let your breathing return to its normal rhythm. Don’t force the pace.
- Breathe gently. If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, stop and return to your normal breath.
Where it comes from
Researchers found that heart rate rises and falls most with the breath at around five to six breaths a minute, and call this resonance breathing. Stephen Elliott introduced Coherent Breathing, a slow, even pace like this, in 2005, and Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg taught it widely. Viram’s 5.5 seconds is a common starting pace, not a measure of your own resonance rate, which varies from person to person.
What the research says
Studies often observe higher heart rate variability during and shortly after slow breathing at this pace. In the largest controlled trial, 400 adults practised daily for four weeks at the University of Sussex: stress, anxiety, and mood improved both with this pace and with a faster placebo practice at 12 breaths a minute, with no significant difference between them. It hasn’t been shown to beat other slow breathing practices. It is not a treatment.
Sources
- Stephen Elliott (2005). The New Science of Breath.
- Richard P. Brown and Patricia L. Gerbarg (2012). The Healing Power of the Breath. Shambhala.
- Lehrer PM, Gevirtz R (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work?. Frontiers in Psychology 5:756.
- Laborde S et al. (2022). Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 138:104711.
- Fincham GW, Strauss C, Cavanagh K (2023). Effect of coherent breathing on mental health and wellbeing: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Scientific Reports 13:22141.
A wellness practice, not medical advice. Read practising safely before you begin.