Anahana
Breathe With More Intention
Explore simple breathing practices for moments when you want steadiness, rest, focus, or a pause.
Start with breathing
Learn the basics, common patterns, and ways to approach breathing exercises at your pace.
Read overviewTry Box Breathing
Follow a simple four-part breathing pattern you can practice at your own pace.
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Your path
- Breathing Exercises
Overview
The starting point before trying any specific technique for a stressful moment.
Introduces the basics before narrowing in on any one anxiety-focused technique.
A place to start before choosing a technique built specifically for bedtime.
Covers the fundamentals that every more specific technique below builds on.
An overview of breathing exercises, and where to go next depending on what you need.
- Box Breathing
Four-part pattern
A structured four-part pattern often used to steady a stressful moment.
Its even, counted rhythm is one of the more commonly used patterns for anxious moments.
Can be practiced before bed, though it is not built specifically for sleep.
The counted rhythm gives the mind something simple to hold onto.
Inhale, hold, exhale, hold, each for an equal count — one of the simplest patterns to learn.
- 4-7-8 Breathing for Sleep & Anxiety: Step-by-Step Guide
4-7-8 pattern
A longer exhale than inhale, a pattern often used to calm a stressful moment.
Built around a longer exhale, commonly used for anxious moments specifically.
Designed with sleep in mind — its own title names both sleep and anxiety.
Less about sharpening attention than about slowing down first.
A pattern of a 4-count inhale, 7-count hold, and 8-count exhale, aimed at sleep and anxiety.
- Wim Hof Breathing Method
Wim Hof Method
A more intense, energizing pattern — a different approach than the calming techniques above.
Its intensity suits some people's anxious moments better than others' — worth trying gently first.
Its energizing effect makes it a poor fit for winding down before bed.
Practitioners often describe heightened alertness and focus afterward.
A specific method combining forceful breathing cycles with cold exposure and retention.
- Diaphragmatic Breathing
Belly breathing
The foundational technique underneath most of the other patterns on this page.
A basic skill that supports many of the other anxiety-focused techniques above.
A calm, low-effort technique that works well as a wind-down practice.
Breathing from the diaphragm rather than the chest is the basic skill every technique here assumes.
Breathing fully into the belly rather than the chest — the foundation the other techniques build on.
- Pranayama Breathing
Pranayama
A family of yogic techniques, several of which are used specifically to calm the nervous system.
Some pranayama techniques are slow and calming; others are energizing — worth knowing the difference.
Certain pranayama techniques are used as part of a wind-down routine, though not all are.
Several pranayama techniques are traditionally used to sharpen concentration before meditation.
A family of yogic breathing techniques, each with its own traditional use and effect.
Explore breathing guides for stress, anxiety, sleep, focus, and general practice.
Browse all Breathing Exercise guides
Browse every breathing exercise guide in this section.