Lissa for breathing exercises: Close your eyes. Your phone keeps the count.
Lissa's Breathe sessions lead each breath with a pulse in your hand and a sound that rises as you breathe in and settles as you breathe out, so you never have to watch a circle or count in your head.
01 · How a session runs
The shape of a session
Every Breathe pattern opens with Arrive, a minute that begins with no pacing at all, then the breathing style, then Return, a minute to come back, ending in a fade.
- Phase 1
Arrive
About twenty seconds of no pacing, then the pace eases toward the pattern.
- Phase 2
Even
The breathing style itself, from Box to 4-7-8, for as long as the pattern runs.
- Phase 3
Return
A minute to let the breath go back to its own rhythm before the fade.
02 · Patterns
Which one to pick
Each pattern is a ready-made session. Lengths can be changed in the app, and Arrange can build one from a sentence.
| Pattern | Length | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| EvenDefault | 5 min | In and out for the same count. Five minutes that fit between one call and the next. |
| Falling | 10 min | A longer breath out than in, the shape most often reached for to slow down. |
| Rising | 7 min | A longer breath in than out. |
| Box | 10 min | In, hold, out, hold: four equal sides, for before the hard conversation. |
| Triangle | 7 min | In, hold, out. |
| 4-7-8 | 3 min | In for four, hold for seven, out for eight: the bedtime breath, done in about three minutes. |
03 · By feel
Haptics lead every breath
A swell under your fingers follows the same cycle as the sound: rising on the in-breath and easing on the out-breath. It is on by default, so you can close your eyes from the first breath.
If you'd rather watch, the breathing orb fills the screen with the cue words above it.
04 · Where you are
It starts at your own pace
With a recent breathing-rate reading from a connected device, a session opens near the rate you're already breathing at, then glides to the pattern's pace through Arrive.
05 · Afterwards
Your heart, before and after
The session's summary shows your heart rate at the start and the end, and your heart-rate variability before, during and after, filled in by Apple Health from a compatible device about an hour later. Every session counts toward your Mindful Minutes.
06 · The habit
Reminders through the day
Breathing Reminders arrive every few hours within your waking day, at times that vary from day to day. A tap opens a Breathe session.
Getting the most from it
- New to paced breathing? Start with Even for five minutes before trying holds.
- Try 4-7-8 as the last thing at night, lying down, eyes closed.
- Change Breaths per Minute in the session editor; the pattern keeps its ratio at the new pace.
Worth knowing
- Haptics need an iPhone's Taptic Engine.
- Heart-rate variability and the starting pace need readings from a compatible device, such as an Apple Watch, in Apple Health.
The research
What the studies say about breathe
Lissa's own articles, on lissa.app.
Questions
Lissa for breathe: questions
Is Lissa free?
You can keep one soundscape free in the web player at lissa.app. In the app, Lissa Premium starts with 7 days free on the yearly plan.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No. The breathing, the haptics and the sound run on the phone. A watch adds the heart readings on the summary and the starting pace.
Which breath should I start with?
Even, for five minutes: in and out for the same count, with no holds. Box and 4-7-8 add holds once the pace feels natural.
Does paced breathing actually do anything?
Lissa's article The Rate, the Ratio, and the Hold walks through what the studies on breathing rate and pattern found.
The other guides