What is coherent breathing?
Coherent breathing is slow, even breathing at around six breaths per minute—in Hima, five seconds in and five seconds out. It is also known as resonance or resonant-frequency breathing, because at roughly this pace your breathing and heart rhythm fall into step with each other.
How to do coherent breathing
- Sit or lie comfortably and let your shoulders drop.
- Inhale gently for 5 seconds through your nose, into your belly.
- Exhale gently for 5 seconds, without pushing the air out.
- Keep going without pauses. The breath should feel like a slow wave, never a strain.
What coherent breathing helps with
- Stress and anxiety. It is the classic “calm down” breath: slow, smooth and easy to sustain for many minutes.
- Heart rate variability. Breathing near six breaths a minute produces large, regular swings in heart rate—the basis of HRV biofeedback training.
- Winding down after work or after a long stretch on your phone.
Why it works
At about six breaths a minute, the rhythm of your breathing lines up with the natural rhythm of your blood-pressure reflex. Heart rate rises on the inhale and falls on the exhale, and the swings get bigger and smoother. Researchers use this effect in heart rate variability biofeedback, which has been studied for stress, anxiety and emotional regulation (Lehrer & Gevirtz, 2014).
Where coherent breathing is used
HRV biofeedback clinics, sports psychology, stress-management programs and many meditation and yoga traditions use slow breathing at or near this rate. It is often the first technique taught because it has no holds and suits almost everyone.
How long and when to practice
Start with 5 minutes and build up to 10–20 minutes a day; that is the range most HRV training programs use. Evenings, after work, or any time you want to come down from a busy day.
Coherent breathing in Hima
Open the Recharge tab, choose Coherent Breathing and pick how long you want to breathe—anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes, with one-tap 3, 5, 10 and 15 minute options. A calm animation shows each phase, so you can follow it with your eyes half closed.
- Background sounds. Thirteen to choose from: Ocean Waves, Rain, Forest, Wind, Flowing Stream, Fireplace, Pink Noise, Brown Noise, Om Chant and four binaural beats—Delta 2.5 Hz, Theta 5 Hz, Beta 16 Hz and Gamma 40 Hz (use headphones for these).
- Vibration. Light or strong haptic cues mark each phase, so you can breathe with your eyes closed.
- Reminders. Set a daily reminder for your breathing practice at the time and days you choose.
- A breath before the scroll. The same calm breath appears when you open an app you have chosen to pause—one breath between you and the feed.
Sources
- Lehrer P. M., Gevirtz R. Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology, 2014. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00756
- Zaccaro A. et al. How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2018. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
Hima is a wellness app, not a medical device. Breathing exercises are not a treatment for any condition. If you feel dizzy, short of breath or unwell, stop and breathe normally. If you have a heart, lung or anxiety condition, are pregnant, or have epilepsy, talk to your doctor first.