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Breathe along · Buteyko

Breathe Light timer: breathe along online

Breathe in for 2, breathe out for 3, rest for 2. The orb breathes, you follow. Free, no sign-up, no cookies.

Ready?

Small and natural, not forced

in 2 · out 3 · rest 2

If anything feels uncomfortable, just stop and breathe normally.

How it works

  1. Take a small, natural breath in through your nose while the orb grows: 2 seconds.
  2. Breathe out, relaxed and without pushing, while the orb shrinks: 3 seconds.
  3. Let your breath rest for a moment, relaxed, while the orb stays small: 2 seconds.
  4. A slight urge to breathe is fine, nothing more.

That’s one round, and it takes 7 seconds. Five minutes is plenty to start. Then just breathe normally.

Only practice with a slight urge to breathe, never with holds to your limit, and never with the goal of lowering your blood oxygen. Never practice in or near water, including the bathtub, or while driving. If you get dizzy or it makes you anxious, just stop and breathe normally. Buteyko has mainly been studied in people with asthma, and it doesn’t replace treatment. Never change prescribed medication, including your inhaler, on your own, and follow your action plan if symptoms come up. For shortness of breath, chest pain, or a racing heart that doesn’t settle, don’t practice; call 911 or your local emergency number. If you’re pregnant or have a heart or circulation condition, high blood pressure, epilepsy, glaucoma, or panic disorder, skip the pauses or check with your doctor first. Children shouldn’t do exercises with breath holds and air hunger.

Gentle, never to your limit

Breathe Light takes only the gentle parts of the Buteyko method: small, natural breaths through your nose and a short, fixed pause after you exhale. Small means natural, not forced and not deliberately shallow. The pause only goes as far as a slight urge to breathe, never to your limit.

At about eight to nine breaths per minute, Breathe Light sits at the lower end of what’s typical at rest: people usually breathe 10 to 20 times a minute.1

What studies show

No study has tested this exact pattern. The Buteyko method has barely been studied in healthy people, and its core assumption about carbon dioxide isn’t supported.2, 3

In a small study, 16 recreational runners did extra exercises with smaller breaths for four weeks and ran easy runs breathing only through the nose. Those exercises went much further than Breathe Light: they were meant to lower blood oxygen saturation to 85 to 94 percent. After the four weeks, the runners could hold their breath longer, but their endurance was no better than in the comparison group.4 The study tested the technique, not the nowa app. More on this, including where the method comes from: The Buteyko method explained: the idea, the exercises, and the studies.

This page shares general information about breathing exercises for relaxation and well-being. It is not medical advice and does not replace diagnosis or treatment by a licensed professional. nowa is a wellness app. It is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Only practice while it feels comfortable. If you feel dizzy or short of breath, or notice a racing heart, chest pain, or strong anxiety, stop and breathe normally. If you have a medical condition (for example a heart or lung condition, or epilepsy) or are pregnant, talk to your doctor or midwife before trying new breathing exercises. Never change prescribed treatment on your own.

Embed on your site

Do you teach yoga, coach people, or write about breathing? Embed the breathing orb on your website for free. It only loads files from nowabreathing.com, sets no cookies, stores nothing in the browser and shows no ads.

See how it looks embedded: preview. For your privacy policy: when it loads, the browser sends the visitor’s IP address to nowabreathing.com (hosted by Cloudflare), as with any embedded content.

Sources

  1. Russo MA, Santarelli DM, O’Rourke D (2017). The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe 13(4):298–309. doi.org/10.1183/20734735.009817
    Review
  2. Courtney R, Cohen M (2008). Investigating the claims of Konstantin Buteyko, M.D., Ph.D.: the relationship of breath holding time to end tidal CO2 and other proposed measures of dysfunctional breathing. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 14(2):115–123. doi.org/10.1089/acm.2007.7204
    Cross-sectional study, 83 adults
  3. Illidi CR, Romer LM, Johnson MA, Williams NC, Rossiter HB, Casaburi R, Tiller NB (2023). Distinguishing science from pseudoscience in commercial respiratory interventions: an evidence-based guide for health and exercise professionals. European Journal of Applied Physiology 123(8):1599–1625. doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05166-8
    Review
  4. Wolff AT, Sherman SR, Horswill CA (2025). The Effects of a Short-Term Supplemental Breathwork Protocol on the Aerobic Performance of Recreational Runners. Sports 13(2):31. doi.org/10.3390/sports13020031
    Randomized study, 16 recreational runners, four weeks

All sources last checked on November 3, 2026.