Breathing timer
A breathing timer that runs any pattern you give it: set how long to breathe in, hold, breathe out and hold again, then press start. It opens on box breathing, four seconds per phase, and the presets load 4-7-8, 4-6-8 and coherent breathing in one tap. A tone marks every change, so you can close your eyes and follow the sound.
Before you start
Stop if dizzy. Never in water or while driving. Pregnant or have a health condition? Ask a doctor.
- If you are pregnant, or live with a heart, lung or blood-pressure condition, or a history of fainting or panic attacks, talk to a doctor before you practice with breath holds.
- Never practice while driving, cycling, or in or near water.
- Stop and breathe normally if you feel dizzy, lightheaded or short of breath, or have pain or pressure in your chest.
Done
Sound & length
Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Open your browser menu, then choose Install app or Add to Home screen.
How to use it
- Pick a preset, or set each phase with the minus and plus buttons. Each tap moves a phase by one second: inhale and exhale run from one to twenty seconds, holds from zero to twenty.
- A hold set to zero is skipped. Set both holds to zero for plain in-and-out breathing.
- Tap the speaker in the corner of the timer to turn the sound on — it’s off until you choose it.
- Press start. The timer counts down from three; then the dot goes once around the circle per cycle, one arc per phase, with a tone at every change.
- The session ends when it reaches the goal under Sound & length: eight cycles by default, or a number of minutes if you switch the goal to Minutes.
Share your pattern
The address bar follows your numbers: four in, seven hold and eight out reads as ?p=4-7-8-0 at the end of the link. Send that link, and it opens with the same pattern. The timer also remembers your last pattern on this device, so the next visit starts where you left off.
The presets
Each preset is the pattern of a technique with its own page, where the steps and cautions are written out:
- Box breathing: 4-4-4-4, four equal phases.
- 4-7-8 breathing: in for four, hold for seven, out for eight.
- 4-6-8 breathing: the same shape with a shorter hold.
- Coherent breathing: five in, five out, no holds.
If you would rather keep a slow, even pace than count holds, paced breathing starts from four in and six out and offers its presets by breaths a minute.
Works offline
Once the page has loaded, nothing here needs an account or a connection. Add it to your home screen, and it opens like an app and keeps working in airplane mode.
Other techniques
Same timer, different pattern. Each one opens with its own rhythm and its own default session length.
Box breathing
Four equal phases: in, hold, out, hold.
4-4-4-4 seconds
4-7-8 breathing
A short inhale, a long hold, a longer exhale.
4-7-8 seconds
Coherent breathing
Even in and out, no holds, six breaths a minute.
5-5 seconds
Diaphragmatic breathing
Slow belly breaths, the exhale longer than the inhale.
4-6 seconds
Physiological sigh
Two inhales back to back, then one long exhale.
3-1-6 seconds
4-6-8 breathing
Like 4-7-8, with the hold a second shorter.
4-6-8 seconds
Set your own pace
The same timer with the numbers left to you: pick a preset, or step each phase up and down.
Published , updated . Written by the Breathe Cadence team, from personal practice rather than clinical training.