Try my app Pocket Breath Coach PocketBreathCoach.com/
The app lets you:
Customize the length of the inhales, exhales, and holds
Listen with the phone locked
Set a timer that fades out when the timer ends (perfect for falling asleep)
Schedule daily reminders
Change the background scenery
Change the guided breathing sounds and background sounds
Explore different breathing rhythms in the categories section
Save your favorite breathing exercises so they're easy to find in the app

Your heart rate naturally slows down as you exhale, so we can take advantage of this by exhaling for twice as long as we inhale. This is called 2:1 ratio breathing.

Here are 6 tips to lower your heart rate with this breathing exercise.

You don’t have to master each of these at once. Start by practicing #1 and #2, and gradually add in the rest.

The 6 tips are:

1. Maintain the slow, rhythmic breathing pattern for 20 minutes. Try to do the whole 20 minutes without stopping, but take a break is if you feel lightheaded.

2. Inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth like you’re gently blowing out a candle. Keep the air flowing smoothly both in and out.

3. On the exhale, let the shoulders relax and sink down. Imagine the shoulders feel heavy. On the inhale, don’t let the shoulders rise, let the belly expand instead.

4. Focus your attention on the center of the chest. Imagine the air is flowing directly in and out of the heart.

5. Evoke a feeling of gratitude. Focus on the feeling of gratitude in your body, rather than trying to think of reasons to be grateful. Imagine a spark of gratitude in the center of your chest, slowly expanding to fill your entire body with gratitude.

6. When you get distracted, bring your attention back to relaxing the shoulders, then focusing on the heart, then evoking a feeling of gratitude.

Leave a comment below if this exercise helped slow your heart rate!