Spoon

Breathing

Resonance Frequency Breathing

Slow, even breathing at the pace that makes your heart rate rise and fall the most.

Also called: Resonance breathing, Resonant breathing, HRV breathing, Six breaths a minute, 0.1 Hz breathing

Needs Apple Watch

Resonance frequency breathing is slow, even breathing at the pace that makes your heart rate rise and fall the most with each breath. For adults that pace usually falls between 4.5 and 6.5 breaths a minute, close to six, and it differs from person to person[1][2].

In Spoon, Find Your Pace does the searching for you. You breathe at a few slow paces while your Apple Watch reads your heart, and Spoon finds the one that calms your heart the most today. Then it keeps you there, and you'll finish calmer and steadier.

Pattern
Equal in and out, no holds, at 4.5 to 6.5 breaths a minute
Session
About 10 minutes
Good for
Finding your slow pace, then practicing it
Level
Beginner
Origin
Heart rate variability biofeedback (Lehrer and Vaschillo, 2000)
Needs
Apple Watch

How to do it

  1. Sit upright or lie down somewhere quiet, where you can stay still for about 10 minutes.
  2. Breathe in for 5 seconds and out for 5 seconds, with no pause between. That is six breaths a minute, the middle of the usual range.
  3. Keep every breath easy. Breathe slower, not bigger; if you feel lightheaded or tingly, make the breaths smaller.
  4. Stay still and quiet. Moving or talking makes your heart rate harder to read.
  5. To find your own pace, try a few paces for 2 minutes each and notice which one makes your heart rate swing the most. Find Your Pace does this for you.
  6. Keep breathing at that pace for the rest of the session.
  7. Finish with a few normal breaths before you get up.

Benefits

  • The pace that calms your heart most

    Find Your Pace tries slow paces on your own heart and keeps you at the one with the strongest effect today.

  • Calmer within minutes

    Slow, even breathing settles you fast. No holds and nothing to strain, just easy breaths at your pace.

  • See your heart follow your breath

    Your heart rate speeds up as you breathe in and slows as you breathe out[2]. After the session, Spoon draws your breath and heart rate on one chart.

  • Your pace, saved

    Next time, skip the search and start straight at your saved pace.

What the research says

In single sessions, your exact pace made a difference. In a 2017 study, 95 college students breathed for 15 minutes at their measured pace or one breath a minute faster, or sat quietly. The personal-pace group reported better mood than both other groups. During a stressful arithmetic test that followed, it also had lower systolic blood pressure than the group that sat quietly[4]. In a 2021 study, heart rate variability was higher at each person's measured pace than at a fixed six breaths a minute[3].

Over weeks, a fixed pace did as well as a personal one. In a 2026 randomized trial that enrolled 88 people, four weeks of practice at a personalized pace or at a fixed six breaths a minute led to equal improvements in stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms[5].

Depth matters too. In a lab study at six breaths a minute, a short instruction to keep breaths comfortable rather than deep reduced the drop in carbon dioxide and the dizzy, tingly symptoms[6].

How resonance breathing works

Psychologist Paul Lehrer and physiologists Evgeny and Bronya Vaschillo set out the method in 2000[1]. Every breath nudges your heart rate: it speeds up as you breathe in and slows as you breathe out[2]. Your baroreflex, the reflex that steadies blood pressure, adds its own slow wave, because it reacts with a delay. Breathe in step with that wave, about six breaths a minute, and the two line up and reinforce each other. That is the resonance: much bigger, regular waves in your heart rate[1][2].

Why your pace differs from someone else's

That delay depends on your blood volume, so the best pace varies from person to person. Taller adults tend to have lower resonance frequencies, and children's run higher, from 6.5 to 9.5 breaths a minute[2]. Your pace can also shift: in a 2021 study, it changed between two visits for two-thirds of participants[3].

How a clinic finds your pace, and how Spoon does it

A clinic has you breathe for 2 minutes at each of five paces, from 6.5 down to 4.5 breaths a minute, while an ECG or pulse sensor records your heart. A practitioner then weighs six signals, including how big the heart-rate swing is[2].

Find Your Pace brings the same idea to your wrist: your Apple Watch reads your heart at each pace, and Spoon keeps the one where your heart rate rises and falls the most.

Tips

  • Breathe slower, not bigger. Comfortable breaths keep you from getting lightheaded[6].
  • Stay still and quiet during each pace. Talking, moving or checking your phone blurs the heart reading.
  • Run the full search now and then, since your pace can drift[3]. On other days, start straight at your saved pace.
  • Want one fixed pace with no search? Breathe 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out.

Safety

  • Stop and breathe normally if you feel lightheaded, get chest pain or feel unwell.
  • Keep breaths comfortable, not deep. Tingling or dizziness means you are overbreathing: make the breaths smaller[2][6].
  • If a pacemaker sets your heart rhythm, a pace test can't read anything useful, because your heart rate won't follow your breathing[2].
  • If you have kidney disease or another condition that affects your blood's acid balance, ask your doctor first[2].
  • Find Your Pace is a breathing practice, not a medical test.

Find Your Pace in Spoon

Find Your Pace needs an Apple Watch, because the iPhone has no heart sensor. Start it from your iPhone or your wrist and follow the animation. You breathe at three slow paces, 2 minutes each, while your Watch reads your heart. The first search tries 5.5, 6 and 5 breaths a minute, plus 6.5 and 4.5 when needed; later searches start near your last pace.

Spoon finds the pace with the strongest effect on your heart today, shows it to you, and keeps you breathing there for the rest of the session. It saves that pace, so next time you can start straight at it, or set your own timing.

  • Needs an Apple Watch. Start from your iPhone or your wrist.
  • Three ways to start: find your pace, use your saved pace, or set your own (2 to 10 seconds each way).
  • Each test pace lasts 2, 2.5 or 3 minutes; sessions run 10 minutes by default (5 to 30).
  • Equal inhale and exhale, no holds. Wrist taps at each inhale and exhale; breath sounds optional.
  • Voice guide on iPhone (off by default) says "Inhale" and "Exhale".
  • In a playlist it goes straight to practice.
  • Saves to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes, with your breath and heart rate on one chart afterwards.
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Questions

What is resonance frequency breathing?

It is slow, even breathing at the pace that makes your heart rate rise and fall the most. For adults that is usually 4.5 to 6.5 breaths a minute, often near six. At that pace, your breathing and your blood-pressure reflex push your heart rate in step, so their swings add up.

How do you find your resonance frequency?

A clinic has you breathe for 2 minutes at each of five slow paces while a sensor records your heart, then compares the results. With an Apple Watch, Spoon's Find Your Pace tries slow paces on your own heart and keeps you at the one with the strongest effect today. With no sensor, start at six breaths a minute.

Is six breaths a minute right for everyone?

It is close for most adults, not exact. Adult resonance frequencies usually fall between 4.5 and 6.5 breaths a minute, and taller people tend to sit lower. Six a minute, 5 seconds in and 5 out, is a good place to start.

Resonance breathing vs coherent breathing: what is the difference?

They overlap. Coherent breathing uses one fixed slow pace, near six breaths a minute, for everyone. Resonance frequency breathing uses the pace that gives your own heart rate its biggest swing, which may be a little faster or slower. Both are slow and even, with no holds.

How long should you do resonance breathing?

Ten minutes is a good session, and it is Spoon's default. In one study, 15 minutes at a person's own pace left people in a better mood than a slightly faster pace or sitting quietly. Practice most days, at a pace that feels easy.

Is resonance breathing safe?

For most people, yes: there are no holds and no forceful breathing. The main risk is breathing too deeply, which can make you lightheaded or tingly, so keep breaths comfortable and stop if you feel unwell. If a pacemaker sets your heart rhythm, a pace test can't tell you anything useful.

Sources

  1. Lehrer PM, Vaschillo E, Vaschillo B. Resonant Frequency Biofeedback Training to Increase Cardiac Variability: Rationale and Manual for Training. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 2000. doi.org
  2. Shaffer F, Meehan ZM. A Practical Guide to Resonance Frequency Assessment for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2020. doi.org
  3. Capdevila L, et al. Resonance Frequency Is Not Always Stable Over Time and Could Be Related to the Inter-Beat Interval. Scientific Reports, 2021. doi.org
  4. Steffen PR, et al. The Impact of Resonance Frequency Breathing on Measures of Heart Rate Variability, Blood Pressure, and Mood. Frontiers in Public Health, 2017. doi.org
  5. Sumińska S, et al. Resonance Frequency versus Fixed 0.1 Hz Breathing in HRV Biofeedback: a Four-Week Randomized Comparison. Scientific Reports, 2026. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  6. Szulczewski MT. An Anti-hyperventilation Instruction Decreases the Drop in End-tidal CO2 and Symptoms of Hyperventilation During Breathing at 0.1 Hz. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 2019. doi.org

Updated October 2026. This page is for education, not medical advice. If you have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition, epilepsy, or you are pregnant, ask your doctor before you start a breathing practice with holds or fast breathing.