TECHNIQUES

The Energizing Breath

Two seconds in, two seconds out. The only technique in the app with a locked length — it can't go past one minute, and there is a good reason for that.

4 min read

Take a lively two-second breath in through the nose, then two seconds out. Fifteen breaths a minute — above the normal resting rate.

Every other technique in the app slows the breath down. This one speeds it up. That is why when to do it is different too: not to calm down, but to wake up.

What the energizing breath is good for

Fast, even breathing lowers the carbon dioxide in the blood for a short time. That produces a feeling of alertness and liveliness — in some people it is also felt as a mild tingling or lightness in the head.

The effect is brief. Don't think of it as coffee: it is closer to splashing cold water on your face.

Why the length is locked

In the app this technique is capped at one minute and the slider doesn't go past it.

The reason: when fast breathing goes on for longer, the drop in carbon dioxide becomes pronounced and can cause dizziness, tingling, numbness in the hands and around the mouth, and in some people a dimming of vision. One minute is enough for the alerting effect and short of those symptoms.

That is why the length is locked: the reflex "that felt good, let me do a bit more" is exactly what's dangerous here.

How to do the energizing breath

Sit upright. Take a lively two-second breath in through the nose — lively, not deep.

Breathe out through the nose for two seconds.

Keep the rhythm lively but unforced. When the time is up, return to normal breathing and wait a few breaths.

Common mistakes in the energizing breath

Breathing too deeply as well as fast. Breathing both fast and deep speeds up the drop in carbon dioxide. Keep the breaths small.

Standing up straight afterwards. When you finish, take a few normal breaths before you move.

Who shouldn't do it

The app steers away from this technique in these situations: asthma or a respiratory condition, a heart condition, pregnancy, a tendency to dizziness. The card drops to the bottom and a warning appears.

It isn't suggested from eight in the evening to five in the morning either, and its card carries the note "not suitable for the night; it may keep you awake".

For users over sixty-five and under thirteen it also moves down the order, with a separate note.

How the app measures the energizing breath

The windows are narrow: a two-second inhale, a two-second exhale. Because the silence between two exhales is very short, this technique has one of the lowest thresholds in the app. The thresholds were measured and tuned against real recordings.

Source

• Russo, Santarelli and O'Rourke (2017), Breathe — a review gathering the measured effects of slow breathing on respiration, the heart and the nervous system. PubMed

How we weigh these sources, and what we deliberately don't claim: How we read the evidence.

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