7-11 breathing

How to do it

1. Sit with your feet on the floor and your back supported, or lie down. Rest a hand on your belly if it helps you feel the movement.
2. Breathe normally a few times and let your exhale lengthen by itself before you start counting.
3. Breathe in through your nose for 7 seconds. Keep it slow and small at first so the air lasts to the end of the count, and feel your belly rise.
4. Without stopping, breathe out through your nose for 11 seconds. The air leaves slowly and your belly falls.
5. Keep going, one cycle after another. Each one takes 18 seconds.
6. Complete 3 minutes, which is 10 cycles. If the count gets to be too much at any point, switch to the short 3-and-5 version described below.
7. To close, let go of the numbers, breathe at your own pace, and wait a few seconds before you stand up.

What 7-11 breathing is

It's two phases with no pause: 7 to breathe in and 11 to breathe out, through the nose and from the diaphragm. What defines it isn't an exhale twice the inhale, as in 4-8, but an exhale well beyond an inhale that's already long.

Followed in seconds, it's one of the slowest breaths in the catalog. A cycle takes 18 seconds, a little over three breaths a minute. That's why it isn't the first one to learn. 4-6 breathing and the long exhale 4-8 get you to the same place and ask less of you.

Where it comes from

The name comes from the United Kingdom. 7-11 breathing is taught within the human givens approach, a school of psychotherapy that Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell developed in the late 1990s and laid out in their 2003 book Human Givens. According to the organization itself, Griffin gave it the name, and everyone who trains with them learns it.

The Human Givens Institute says the technique has been used for thousands of years around the world, but it cites no source and we couldn't confirm that. What can be said is that breathing out longer than you breathe in is also taught in yoga, and that the 7 and 11 count under this name is recent.

From there it made its way into wellbeing materials in Britain's public health service. The North Staffordshire Wellbeing College, for one, teaches it by tracing a door frame with your eyes: the short side as you breathe in, the long side as you breathe out.

What people use it for

Mostly after a jolt or in the middle of a tense stretch: after bad news, before walking into a hard appointment, when your body is still revved up even though the reason has passed.

The people who teach it point to two things. One is the long exhale, which many people feel as the part that loosens. The other is the counting: getting to 11 without losing your place takes attention and leaves less room for looping thoughts.

What the studies say

We found no trials of this pattern published in scientific journals. The closest thing is a master's project that Sam Gerrard published in 2013 in the school's own journal. Thirty people ages 31 to 77 breathed for ten minutes at 7-11 and ten minutes with equal inhales and exhales. Sixteen found 7-11 more relaxing and fourteen preferred the other, and the heart rate variability data showed no advantage for either.

Research on slow breathing has nearly all been done at faster rates than this one. A 2017 review defines slow breathing as 4 to 10 breaths a minute and puts the point where heart rate variability tends to be greatest near 6. It cites a study in which 6 breaths a minute did better for gas exchange than 3. Slower doesn't mean better.

On breathing practices in general, a 2023 meta-analysis pooled 12 trials with 785 people and found lower self-reported stress than in control groups, with a small-to-medium effect. Its authors urge caution because of the quality of the studies.

What it feels like and what to notice

The first few times, seven seconds of inhale can feel endless. The temptation is to take one big gulp and run out of room by 4. It goes better when the air comes in so slowly you can barely hear it.

Once you find the rhythm, the breath turns wide and unhurried, and a pleasant heaviness in the arms and legs is common.

The opposite can happen too. For some people, a breath this different from their own is unsettling instead of calming, and a Japanese researcher cautioned in 2018 that stretching the exhale too far may increase the feeling of stress. If you notice anxiety, dizziness, tingling or air hunger, stop. That isn't failing: it means a shorter count suits you today.

Variations

• Easier: breathe in to a count of 3 and out to a count of 5. It's the alternative the Human Givens Institute offers, with one condition: the exhale stays longer than the inhale.
• In between: 5 seconds in and 8 seconds out, a comfortable step between the short version and the full one.
• Counting faster: the original instruction talks about counts, not seconds. If you count at your own pace, a bit faster than the clock, it's still 7-11.
• Longer: the institute suggests continuing for 5 to 10 minutes. Do that only once 3 minutes feels comfortable.

Common mistakes

• Taking in too much air. Breathing slowly isn't breathing to the max. Big breaths back to back are what make you dizzy.
• Spending the inhale in the first few seconds. Spread the air coming in across the whole count of 7.
• Breathing with your chest. The cue is to send the air low: your belly moves and your shoulders don't.
• Hanging on to 11 at any cost. If you can't get there, shorten it. The ratio matters more than the figure.
• Trying it for the first time mid-crisis. Learn it at a calm moment so it's there when you need it.

How often and how long

The guided session runs 3 minutes. The Human Givens Institute recommends practicing for 5 to 10 minutes and repeating a few times a day, but that's the advice of the people who teach the technique, not a study result.

A sensible start: one week of the short 3-and-5 version, once a day. Then try the full count for 3 minutes.

Before you start

• Do it sitting or lying down. If you feel dizzy, tingly or short of breath, stop and breathe normally.
• Don't force the count. If 7 and 11 are too long, use 3 and 5.
• Don't practice while driving or in water.
• If you're pregnant, have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition, or have a history of panic attacks or fainting, check with your care provider first.
• If slow breathing makes you uneasy instead of calm, drop it and pick a breath closer to your own pace.