Slowing down

How to do it

1. Lie on your back or your side, or sit with your back supported. Close your mouth: the whole session goes through the nose.
2. Breathe in for 3 seconds and out for 4, with no pauses. Repeat for four cycles. Don't try to go slower than the guide yet.
3. From the fifth cycle, each phase lasts half a second longer: 3.5 in and 4.5 out. Four cycles later, 4 and 5. And so on every four cycles: 4.5 and 5.5, then 5 and 6, 5.5 and 6.5, 6 and 7, 6.5 and 7.5.
4. Around five and a half minutes in, you reach 7 seconds in and 8 seconds out. The exhale stops growing: 8 seconds is the ceiling.
5. The inhale climbs two more steps, to 7.5 and then 8. From there you breathe 8 and 8, in 16-second cycles, until the end.
6. The session lasts about 10 minutes, 49 cycles. If a step feels too long, stop following the guide and stay on the one before it, at your own count.
7. To finish, stop counting and let the air come and go as it likes. If you're in bed, you don't need to move.

What it is

It's a nose breath with no holds that changes pace as the session goes on. Both phases grow together: half a second every four cycles, with a ceiling of 8 seconds per phase. You start at 3 and 4, which makes 7-second cycles, and end at 8 and 8, 16-second cycles.

In numbers, you go from eight or nine breaths a minute to fewer than four. Its closest relative, the lengthening breath, keeps the inhale fixed and stretches only the exhale. This one stretches everything, which is why the ending is a good deal slower than coherent breathing at six breaths a minute. That last stretch is demanding, and it's optional.

Where it comes from

It has no author and no traditional name. It's a sequence made for this site to solve a specific problem: for a lot of people, jumping straight to six breaths a minute brings on an urge to grab more air. Starting near where you are and stepping down avoids that jump.

The idea of going gradually is old. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th-century hatha yoga manual attributed to Svatmarama, puts it in an image: just as a lion, an elephant or a tiger is tamed little by little, the breath is brought under control by slow degrees. The text is talking about pranayama in general, breath holds included, and not about this sequence. We quote it as tradition, not as an origin.

What people use it for

Its natural home is the bed or the couch, before sleep. People who reach the end of the day in a rush often find a slow count is too big a stretch, get frustrated and quit. Here the first cycles look a lot like what you're already doing, which makes it easier to begin.

Some people also use it to shift from something intense to something quiet: after closing the laptop, before meditating or reading. And it works as a test. The step where you start to feel uncomfortable tells you what your slow pace is, for now.

What studies say

No study we could find has tested this sequence. The evidence is about breathing slowly at a steady pace.

A 2018 systematic review gathered 15 studies in healthy people, using techniques under ten breaths a minute. It linked them with higher heart rate variability and with more self-reported relaxation and comfort. The studies are small and differ a lot from one another.

On sleep, two small studies don't point the same way. In 2015, a study of 14 people with insomnia and 14 good sleepers measured sleep with polysomnography. After 20 minutes of breathing at six breaths a minute before bed, the people with insomnia fell asleep faster and woke up less. In 2020, a pilot trial with 20 young adults without sleep problems, ten of whom breathed at five breaths a minute for 30 minutes, found no change in how long they took to fall asleep.

Two things are clear. The evidence is limited, and the last stretch of this sequence, at fewer than four breaths a minute, is slower than anything those studies tested.

What it feels like and what to notice

The first two minutes may seem too easy. That's the idea. Between minutes three and five the breath gets roomier, and it's common to feel heavy in your arms and legs, to yawn, or to drift off.

The part to watch comes after five and a half minutes, when the phases pass 7 seconds. If you catch yourself gulping air on the inhale or running out before a phase ends, or if you get dizzy or tingly in your hands or face, don't go any slower. Return to a comfortable count or breathe normally.

Variations

• Easier: follow the guide only up to 5 seconds in and 6 out, which arrive shortly after the two-minute mark, and stay there on your own.
• Down to six a minute: another comfortable stopping point is 4.5 and 5.5, 10-second cycles. That's the pace of coherent breathing, with a slightly longer exhale.
• Longer: if 8 and 8 feels comfortable, keep that pace for a few more minutes after the session ends.

Common mistakes

• Getting ahead of the guide and breathing slowly from the first cycle. The short start is part of the design.
• Making each breath bigger as it gets slower. Slower isn't deeper: the air comes in more slowly, not in larger amounts.
• Making yourself reach 8 and 8. It's a ceiling, not a goal.
• Adding pauses to fill out the count. There are no holds here: the air keeps moving the whole time, very slowly.

How often and how long

Ten minutes, once a day, at night. If that's too much, five minutes already take you to 6 seconds in and 7 out, which is plenty slow.

There's no proven schedule. What tends to keep a practice going is regularity: same time, same place, without expecting a result every night. If you've slept badly for weeks or you wake up gasping, talk with a health professional. A breathing exercise doesn't replace that visit.

Before you start

• If you feel dizzy, tingly or short of breath, stop following the guide and breathe normally.
• The last stretch, at 8 seconds per phase, is very slow. Don't force it: stay on the step that feels comfortable.
• Don't do it while driving, in water, or anywhere falling asleep would be a risk.
• If you're pregnant, or have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition or a history of panic attacks, check with your care provider first.