Breath.

The shortest distance to a calmer system.

Breath is the only system in the body you can run consciously and unconsciously. Two minutes of paced breathing changes heart-rate variability, vagal tone and the loudness of your own thoughts. Most members start here, even if they came for something else.

What it is.

A handful of drills, taught properly. Box breath. Diaphragmatic breathing. Intercostal stretches. Cyclic sighing. Each one two to six minutes, voiced calmly, with on-screen counts you can listen to eyes-closed.

The Free tier ships breath in full from day one — we want everyone to have access to this practice, paying or not.

"Two minutes of cyclic sighing produces a measurable drop in state anxiety." The quickest lever you own. The science agrees with the breath teachers.

— Balban et al., Stanford, Cell Reports Medicine 2023

Why this practice.

Most desk workers are in a state of mild, unbroken shallow breathing all day. Email apnea, the tendency to hold the breath while reading, has the same physiological signature as mild stress — regardless of what's on screen.

  • < 1 min

    Of physiological-sigh breathing produces a measurable drop in state anxiety. The quickest lever you own.

    Balban et al., Stanford, Cell Reports Medicine 2023.

  • 5+×/day

    Short paced-breath repairs through the day reset the resting state of the autonomic nervous system more durably than one long session.

    HRV training literature, paced-breathing meta-analyses.

  • Free

    The whole Breath catalogue is on the Free tier from day one. Access to this practice is not a paid feature.

    Sthira Me Pricing 1.3, Free tier inclusions.

Who it suits.

Everyone, every band, every day. Breath is the gentlest entry point in the whole app and the most universal practice we ship.

  • Knowledge workers

    For screen-induced shallow breathing. Two minutes between meetings, eyes open or closed.

  • Anxiety, all ages

    Teens and adults using paced breath as a first-line tool. Box breath is taught from day one.

  • Older adults

    Breath capacity work and gentle diaphragmatic drills. No held-breath techniques in mainline.

  • Kids

    Box breath first, taught as a calm-down skill. Short, simple, no incense.

What evidence supports it.

Sourced from peer-reviewed breath science. Scripts cross-checked against UK NHS Talking Therapies breath protocols. No Wim Hof extreme practices in the mainline programme.

  • Stanford cyclic sighing

    Five minutes/day of cyclic sighing produced larger mood and physiological improvements than mindfulness control in a 2023 randomised trial.

    Balban et al., Stanford, Cell Reports Medicine 2023.

  • Polyvagal theory

    Voiced cues and pacing reflect Polyvagal theory's vagal brake mechanics — longer exhale than inhale to shift autonomic state toward rest.

    Porges, Polyvagal theory, foundational papers.

  • HRV training

    Pacing protocols line up with the resonance-frequency breathing literature (~6 breaths/minute) used in HRV biofeedback for adults.

    Lehrer / Vaschillo, HRV biofeedback foundations.

  • NHS Talking Therapies

    Breath protocols cross-checked against UK NHS Talking Therapies grounding and panic-management materials so the cues align with what UK clinicians teach.

    NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT), public materials.

Two minutes, several times a day.

Breath ships at launch, free to everyone. Join the waitlist for founder pricing on the rest of the app.

Join the waitlist