The cardiac (heart) coherence breathing exercise is widely used at bio-feedback trainings. Its a reliable technique to relieve stress. Although it is simple, it is highly effective and has already helped thousands to cope with life’s most difficult situations. This tutorial will show you the basics.
Heart coherence breathing works especially well for people who don’t like the somber voices of guided meditations. You should try it, especially if other relaxation techniques have failed.
How to do the heart coherence breathing exercise
Get comfortable and start the cardiac coherence breathing exercise in Breath Ball.
If you haven’t downloaded Breath Ball yet, you can do so free of charge by following one of these links:
After starting the cardiac coherence breathing exercise, Breath Ball will show an animation similar to this:
Heart coherence breathing with five seconds inhale and exhale.
Now breathe in the rhythm of the heart:
- Inhale into your belly for five seconds.
- Exhale for another five seconds.
- Repeat for three to five minutes.
Please mind the following:- Avoid breathing like a robot, or like you’re scuba diving.
- Breathe naturally, as you usually do, just slower.
After three to five minutes, you‘ll notice a meditative trance. It feels like a deep relaxation, inner calm, and increased awareness. This meditative trace is called coherence.
Now, go ahead and try it for yourself. Do a three minutes cardiac coherence breathing session and see how it makes you feel.
Tips for practicing the heart coherence breathing exercise
- The most important thing is to slow down to 6 breaths per minute while still breathing naturally.
- In the unlikely case that you’re not feeling better after the exercise, please read How stress happens and what you can do about it and How to properly breathe to get calm. An understanding about your body’s nervous system, paired with some stories that make it easy to grasp, usually helps.
- If you‘re still having difficulties afterwards, please get in touch. Your feedback will help us to improve Breath Ball and this tutorial.
Downloads for the heart coherence breathing exercise
The heart coherence breathing animation can be downloaded via the link. For best results, practice it with the Breath Ball app. Here are the links to the free downloads:
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You might also want to have a look at the slow paced breathing and box breathing exercises to learn how to cope with stress. Beside that, here’s a link to some other breathing exercises: