Breathing Exercise Timer

Box breathing splits each breath into four equal 4-second parts: in, hold, out, hold. One cycle takes 16 seconds, so you breathe just under 4 times a minute. The even count gives a restless mind something simple to hold on to, which is why it is taught in military and first-responder stress training.

4-7-8 breathing uses a 4-second inhale, a 7-second hold, and an 8-second exhale, 19 seconds per cycle. The long exhale is the point. Physician Andrew Weil popularized it as a wind-down routine and suggests starting with about 4 cycles, which is what the 1-minute setting gives you.

Coherent breathing drops the holds: 5.5 seconds in, 5.5 seconds out, about 5.5 breaths per minute. That pace sits close to the resonance frequency that heart rate variability researchers such as Lehrer and Gevirtz use in biofeedback, where heart rate and breathing rise and fall together.

For a quick reset before a meeting or exam, try box breathing for 2 to 3 minutes. It is the easiest to remember without a timer later.

For winding down at night, 4-7-8 for 1 minute (4 cycles) is a gentle start. Add cycles only if the holds stay comfortable.

For a longer daily practice, coherent breathing for 5 to 10 minutes is the pattern used in most heart rate variability studies. Ten minutes gives you 55 slow breaths.

The timer always finishes a whole cycle, so a session may run a few seconds past the minute mark. It respects your device's reduced-motion setting, and you can turn on a soft tone at each phase change if you want to close your eyes. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.