Equal Breathing
4-0-4 · 7.5 breaths a minute
A simple, even rhythm to start with
Coherent breathing timer
Breathe in for 5 seconds and out for 5. Each breath takes 10 seconds, 6 breaths a minute, the rate usually meant by coherent or resonant breathing.
Coherent Breathing5-0-5 · 6 breaths a minute
Cues
Keyboard, while the timer has focus
SpaceStart or pauseEscStopFFocus mode
Session complete
3 minutes · 12 cycles of coherent breathing
In the app, each session builds your streak and saves to Apple Health when you allow it.
How to do it
Sit comfortably with your feet flat. Breathe through your nose, quietly enough that you could not hear it across a room.
- Breathe in for 5 seconds, letting the belly move first.
- Breathe out for 5 seconds, without pushing.
- Keep both halves even and the turn between them soft. Repeat.
Most people's resonance frequency is near 0.1 Hz, about 6 breaths a minute, and 5 and 5 lands on it.1 The exact rate varies from person to person. If 5 and 5 feels rushed, try 6 and 6 on the custom timer, which is 5 breaths a minute. If it feels like too much air, go back to equal breathing.
The pace should feel sustainable for the whole session. A breath you can keep up for 10 minutes is better than a deeper one you have to abandon after 2.
Other breathing timers
The same timer for every pattern, plus the full comparison.
Extended Exhale
4-0-8 · 5 breaths a minute
Twice as long out as in, for quick calm
Box Breathing
4-4-4-4 · 3.8 breaths a minute
Steady and balanced, for stress and focus
When people use it
Coherent breathing suits a daily practice: 10 minutes in the morning, or at the end of the workday. The even pace and lack of holds make it easy to do with your eyes closed.
The rate comes from heart rate variability biofeedback, where people breathe at their own resonance frequency, usually close to 6 breaths a minute, to produce large, regular heart rate oscillations.1 A systematic review of slow breathing under 10 breaths a minute found studies reporting higher heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia during practice, alongside reports of greater comfort and relaxation. The studies were small and used different protocols.2
What the research says
The strongest work on this rate is about HRV biofeedback, not coherent breathing on its own. Lehrer and Gevirtz describe how breathing near 0.1 Hz, 6 breaths a minute, makes heart rate and breathing oscillate in phase and produces the largest respiratory sinus arrhythmia for most people.1 Their paper is about a biofeedback treatment that measures the heart.
The 2018 systematic review found changes in heart rate variability during slow breathing across 15 studies, with psychological measures such as comfort and relaxation improving in several studies. It did not find a single mechanism, and the authors describe the field as still working one out.2
A 2026 review of slow breathing before bedtime found self-reported sleep improvements, with objective sleep measures inconclusive.3
Questions
Is coherent breathing the same as resonance breathing?
The names are often used interchangeably. Strictly, resonance frequency is the rate at which your own heart rate oscillations are largest, which a biofeedback device can find. Coherent breathing uses a fixed rate near 6 breaths a minute.
Why 6 breaths a minute?
It is close to 0.1 Hz, the frequency at which the cardiovascular system resonates for many people, so breathing and heart rate oscillations line up.1 Individual rates vary.
Is 5 seconds in and 5 out slow?
Yes. Typical resting breathing is about 9 to 24 breaths a minute, or 0.15 to 0.4 Hz.1 At 5 and 5 you take 6.
Does this timer measure HRV?
No. It paces the breath only, and the BreathKit app doesn't measure heart rate variability either.
Should the out breath be longer than the in breath?
At this pace, equal halves hold up well. In a 2014 study of 47 students, breathing at 5.5 breaths a minute with equal halves produced more heart rate variability than the other 3 patterns tested, including the same rate with a 4:6 split.4 A 2024 study at 6 breaths a minute found no difference between equal halves and a 1:2 ratio, though some earlier studies favored a longer exhale.5 If a longer out breath feels better, try extended exhale.
Sources
- Lehrer, P. M., & Gevirtz, R. (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 756.Resonance near 6 breaths a minute, respiratory sinus arrhythmia and typical resting breathing rates
- Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., et al. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353.The systematic review of slow breathing and its mixed, small studies
- Eide, E. M., et al. (2026). Slow breathing techniques before bedtime and the effects on sleep: a systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 102284.The review of slow breathing before bedtime
- Lin, I. M., Tai, L. Y., & Fan, S. Y. (2014). Breathing at a rate of 5.5 breaths per minute with equal inhalation-to-exhalation ratio increases heart rate variability. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 91, 206–211.Equal halves at 5.5 breaths a minute compared with a 4:6 split
- Meehan, Z. M., & Shaffer, F. (2024). Do longer exhalations increase HRV during slow-paced breathing? Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 49(3), 407–417.No difference in heart rate variability between 1:1 and 1:2 at 6 breaths a minute, and the mixed earlier studies
6 breaths a minute, on your wrist
BreathKit guides the same pace on Apple Watch with a tap at each phase, saves each session to Apple Health, and keeps your streak on the Lock Screen.
