4-7-8 Breathing
4-7-8 · 3.2 breaths a minute
A long exhale to wind down for sleep
Extended exhale breathing timer
Breathe in for 4 seconds and out for 8. Twice as long out as in, 12 seconds a cycle, 5 breaths a minute.
Extended Exhale4-0-8 · 5 breaths a minute
Cues
Keyboard, while the timer has focus
SpaceStart or pauseEscStopFFocus mode
Session complete
3 minutes · 12 cycles of extended exhale
In the app, each session builds your streak and saves to Apple Health when you allow it.
How to do it
Sit tall and let your shoulders drop. Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose or pursed lips.
- Breathe in for 4 seconds.
- Breathe out for 8 seconds, smooth from start to finish.
- Start the next breath as soon as the out breath ends, without a pause.
If you run out of air before the 8 seconds are up, try 3 in and 6 out on the custom timer. The ratio is the point: out for twice as long as in.
The usual mistake is a big in breath to fuel the long out breath. Keep the inhale an ordinary size and slow the exhale down instead. Pursing your lips, as if cooling soup, makes it easier to let the air out slowly; keep the stream even rather than pushing hard at the start.
Other breathing timers
The same timer for every pattern, plus the full comparison.
Coherent Breathing
5-0-5 · 6 breaths a minute
Six slow breaths a minute to settle the body
Box Breathing
4-4-4-4 · 3.8 breaths a minute
Steady and balanced, for stress and focus
When people use it
Use it when you want to settle quickly: before a meeting, after a call that got heated, or when you notice you are breathing high in your chest.
The exhale-focused practice in the 2023 Stanford trial, cyclic sighing, was the only practice to improve mood significantly more than mindfulness meditation over a month of 5-minute daily practice.1 Cyclic sighing is a different pattern from 4-8, and the study did not test a 4-8 breath.
In a 2021 laboratory comparison with 30 people, prolonged exhalation led to better scores than tactical breathing (4-4-4-4) on a timed interference task under noise, while tactical breathing brought lower physiological arousal. The authors suggest prolonged exhalation suits moments that need action, and tactical breathing moments of passive waiting.2
What the research says
The 2018 systematic review of slow breathing found that practices under 10 breaths a minute are associated with higher heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia during practice, and with greater comfort and relaxation in several studies. The review did not compare inhale-to-exhale ratios directly.3
A 4-8 pattern runs at 5 breaths a minute, inside the range the review covers. That makes the slow-breathing literature the closest evidence available, though none of it tested this exact pattern.
Whether the longer exhale itself matters is still debated. In a 2014 study of 30 people, a short inhale with a long exhale was rated more relaxing than the reverse, and at 6 breaths a minute it came with more high-frequency heart rate variability.4 A 2024 study and its replication, with 26 and 16 students, found that a 1:2 ratio gave the same heart rate variability as equal halves at 6 breaths a minute. Of the earlier studies its authors reviewed, 4 favored a longer exhale, 3 found no effect, 1 favored equal halves and 1 a longer inhale.5
Questions
Is extended exhale the same as 1-to-2 breathing?
Yes. A 4-8 breath is the 1:2 ratio, with the exhale twice the inhale. 4-7-8 uses the same in and out counts with a 7-second hold between them.
Can I use 5-10 instead?
Yes, if it is comfortable. At 5-10, each cycle takes 15 seconds, 4 breaths a minute. Use the custom timer and keep the out breath twice the in breath.
Should I breathe out through my mouth?
Either is fine. Through the nose is quieter and easier on a dry mouth; pursed lips make the exhale slower. Pick whichever you can keep up.
Is extended exhale better than coherent breathing?
No study has settled it. Coherent breathing (5 in, 5 out) has equal halves at 6 breaths a minute; extended exhale is a little slower, at 5, and puts the extra time on the out breath. At 6 breaths a minute, a 2024 study found the same heart rate variability with either split.5 Try a few minutes of each.
Why does a longer exhale feel calming?
Lehrer and Gevirtz note that longer exhalations may increase respiratory sinus arrhythmia, the rise and fall in heart rate that comes with each breath.6 In the 2014 study, people also rated a long exhale as more relaxing than a long inhale.4 How much difference you notice varies from person to person.
Sources
- Balban, M. Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M. M., et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895.The Stanford trial and its result for the exhale-focused practice
- Röttger, S., Theobald, D. A., Abendroth, J., & Jacobsen, T. (2021). The effectiveness of combat tactical breathing as compared with prolonged exhalation. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 46, 19–28.The 2021 comparison: better task scores with prolonged exhalation, lower arousal with tactical breathing
- 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 under 10 breaths a minute
- Van Diest, I., Verstappen, K., Aubert, A. E., et al. (2014). Inhalation/exhalation ratio modulates the effect of slow breathing on heart rate variability and relaxation. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 39(3–4), 171–180.A short inhale with a long exhale rated more relaxing, with more high-frequency heart rate variability at 6 breaths a minute
- 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
- Lehrer, P. M., & Gevirtz, R. (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 756.Longer exhalations and respiratory sinus arrhythmia
A longer exhale, guided on Apple Watch
BreathKit taps your wrist through the 4-8 rhythm and saves the session to Apple Health. Set a daily reminder and keep the streak on your Lock Screen.
