Your breath is the one part of your nervous system you can steer by hand. Slow the exhale and the heart follows. Hold at the top and there is nothing to do but notice. Breathe hard for a minute and hold, and the body finds a stillness it rarely gets to. The techniques are old and simple. The hard part is keeping count while trying to let go.
So the timer keeps count. That is all a breathing pacer is: something that shows you what to expect before you start, shows you the shape of the breath while you are in it, and stays out of the way. You only have to follow.
Seven ways to breathe on purpose. Three kinds of effort.
Rhythmic patterns settle you over minutes. The physiological sigh resets you in three breaths. The Wim Hof method is a workout for the breath, with rules to match. If it is silence you are after rather than a pace to follow, the meditation timer does silent timed sitting with a bell at either end.
Extended exhale
4 · 6The gentlest start. A longer out-breath tips you toward rest. Quietly calming. Shoulders drop by the third or fourth breath.
Box breathing
4 · 4 · 4 · 4Four equal sides. Steadying before anything that needs a clear head. The holds feel long at first; that is the point.
4-7-8 breathing
4 · 7 · 8A long hold, a longer exhale. Built for winding down. Heavy-limbed and drowsy. Best lying down, near sleep.
Coherent breathing
5.5 · 5.5Five and a half breaths a minute. For a longer, quieter sit. Slow and settled. The count stops being something you have to think about.
Custom pattern
You set itYour teacher’s count, or a pattern you are working toward. Depends on the ratio. Longer exhales calm; longer holds sharpen.
Physiological sigh
Quick resetTwo inhales, one long exhale. The quickest reset on this page. Immediate. The exhale can be audible; a real sigh is allowed.
Wim Hof method
AdvancedRounds of thirty deep breaths, then a retention hold you end yourself. Tingling and a still calm during the hold are normal. Discomfort is not; breathe whenever you need to.
Every practice shows what to expect before the first breath, so nothing in the session is a surprise. The longer version of each one, and where it came from, is in the breathwork techniques guide.
Questions people ask.
Which practice should I start with?
Extended exhale. There are no holds, so nothing to strain against. Try the physiological sigh when you need to settle in under a minute, and box breathing when you want structure.
What is a box breathing timer good for?
Four equal phases, four seconds each, and the two holds are the part that does the work. It suits the ten minutes before something that needs a clear head: a hard conversation, an interview, the first hour of a bad day. Set anything from two to ten minutes and the timer counts every side of the box, so the count is never yours to keep. If you want to see where it sits among the other patterns, the breathwork techniques guide covers all of them.
How long should a session be?
Rhythmic patterns: five minutes is the length most of the research uses, and a single minute still helps in the moment. 4-7-8: four rounds, up to eight once the hold feels easy. The sigh: one to three to reset, or twenty for a four-minute practice. Wim Hof: three rounds, about ten minutes.
Is the 4-7-8 breathing timer counted in rounds or minutes?
Rounds. The timer counts cycles rather than minutes and ends after your last exhale, never part-way through a breath. One cycle is nineteen seconds, so four rounds takes a little over a minute and eight takes about two and a half. Start at four and add rounds as the seven-second hold stops feeling long.
What does the preview show?
The actual session. The stage on this page runs the same water line and word you will follow once you press Begin, at the rhythm of the practice you have highlighted.
Is the Wim Hof method safe?
For most healthy adults, seated or lying down, yes. Never in or near water or while driving. Stop if you feel dizzy or unwell. Not advised during pregnancy or with heart, blood-pressure or seizure conditions. The timer asks you to acknowledge this once before your first round.
Does the bell interrupt the breathing?
One soft strike as you begin, one when the session ends, and quiet in between. The phase word and the water line carry the rhythm while you breathe. Wim Hof rounds are the exception: a strike marks each change of stage, because your eyes are usually shut there. Turn the bell off in the options if you would rather breathe in silence.
Does it work if I switch tabs?
Yes. Nothing here is counted in frames or ticks, so a buried tab cannot slow the breath down: come back part-way through and the phase word is exactly where the clock says it should be. The page also asks to keep the screen lit while you breathe, which is what stops a phone dimming on you three breaths in. Breathing with the screen off, or from a lock screen, is what the guided sessions are built for.
Is this breathing exercise timer free?
Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. It runs in your browser, keeps no account and works offline once the page has loaded. All seven practices, every length and the Wim Hof rounds are here on the same terms.
Breathwork that leads somewhere. A journal that remembers.
Guided and personalised meditations, courses built around your goal, and a journal that keeps each insight with the session that prompted it. Free to download.