Breathing exercises for beginners

How do I start breathing exercises?

Sit somewhere you won’t be interrupted for a few minutes, press play and follow the circle. That’s really all.

Which breathing exercise should a beginner start with?

One with no holds and an even count. Coherent breathing, 5 in and 5 out, is the classic first breath: easy to follow, and the pace at which much of the research is done. Once that feels natural, try the other two.

• Coherent breathing: 5 in, 5 out. The everyday one.
• 4-6 breathing: 4 in, 6 out. The longer out-breath makes it a good one for evenings.
• Box breathing: in, hold, out, rest, 4 seconds each. The holds give your mind something to do before a call or an exam.

How long should you do breathing exercises?

Start with 2 to 5 minutes. The studies used anything from 1 to 20 minutes: one minute of box breathing in a tense moment (Riedl et al. 2026), 5 minutes a day for a month (Balban et al. 2023), 15 minutes each evening for 30 days (Laborde et al. 2019) and 20 minutes before bed (Tsai et al. 2015). Short and regular beats long and rare. If you enjoy it, add a minute or two a week: in Breathform, that’s 6 more rounds of Coherent for each minute.

How often should you do breathing exercises?

Once a day is a good rhythm. The month-long trials above asked people to practise every day. Can you do them every day? Yes, and more than once if it helps: a few minutes in the morning and a few before bed is common. The trick is a cue: do it while the kettle boils, after brushing your teeth or before you open your laptop.

What is the best time of day for breathing exercises?

Whenever you’ll actually do it. That said, each time has its use:

• Morning: a calm start, before the phone gets hold of you. Morning breathing exercises has a 3-minute routine.
• Before something: a call, a talk or an exam. Box breathing suits this.
• Evening: winding down. A longer out-breath, like 4-6, helps you put the day down. There’s more in breathing exercises for sleep.

How long before breathing exercises work?

In the moment, often within minutes. After one 5-minute session of slow breathing with a longer out-breath, 47 adults, young and old, felt less anxious (Magnon et al. 2021). There was no comparison group, so some of that may simply be sitting quietly. Over weeks, the picture is steadier: in a 30-day trial, 15 minutes of slow breathing each evening improved how well people said they slept, compared with time on social media (Laborde et al. 2019). Across 12 trials, breathing practices lowered self-reported stress by a small-to-medium amount (Fincham et al. 2023).

So: expect a little calm today and a steadier effect after a few weeks of regular practice.

How well each breath is studied

• Coherent breathingWell studied
• 4-6 breathingWell studied
• Box breathingSome evidence

Every study on this page (6)

• Riedl et al., 2026: In a small pilot, one minute of box breathing or cyclic sighing in tense moments eased students' anxiety more than no exercise.
• Balban et al., 2023: Five minutes a day of cyclic sighing lifted mood a little more than mindfulness meditation, in 108 adults.
• Laborde et al., 2019: In 64 healthy young adults, a month of 15-minute evening slow-breathing sessions improved self-rated sleep more than time on social media.
• Tsai et al., 2015: In a small sleep-lab study, people reporting insomnia fell asleep sooner and woke less after 20 minutes of slow breathing before bed.
• Magnon et al., 2021: In 47 younger and older adults, anxiety was lower after one five-minute slow-breathing session, though the study had no comparison group.
• Fincham et al., 2023: Pooled trials suggest breathwork modestly eases stress, anxiety and low mood compared with control groups, though most trials had weaknesses.

Breathing exercises for beginners: a 7-day plan

What if it feels hard?

That’s common in the first week. If you feel dizzy or your fingers tingle, you’re breathing a little more than you need: make the breaths smaller and softer. If a count feels long, shorten it. If a hold makes you tense, drop it. Why deep breathing makes you dizzy covers the usual bumps, and how to breathe properly covers the basics behind all of these.

Questions people ask

Can I do breathing exercises lying down?

Yes. Lying on your back with your knees bent is the easiest way to feel your belly rise and fall, so it’s a good place to start. The only catch is that you may fall asleep, which is fine at bedtime and less so at lunch. In the day, sitting with your back supported and your feet flat keeps you comfortable and awake.

Do I need an app to do breathing exercises?

No app is needed: a clock with a second hand or a count in your head works. A guide helps in the first weeks because you can stop counting and just follow, which is why every page here has a player you can use in the browser. Later, many people find the count lives in their head and they can do it anywhere.

Is breathwork the same as breathing exercises?

Breathwork is the wider word. It covers everything from the gentle, slow breathing on this page to intense styles with fast breathing and long holds, often done in a class. Breathing exercises usually means the gentle end. If you’re a beginner, start there. What is breathwork? maps the whole range.

Should I close my eyes?

If you like. Closing your eyes helps some people notice the breath; others feel more settled looking softly at the floor or the player. Both are fine. Once the count is in your head, closing your eyes is easy. Until then, keep them open on the circle and let it do the counting for you.