Coherent Breathing: Uses, Benefits, & How to Practice

What Is Coherent Breathing?

Coherent breathing is a grounding technique developed by Stephen Eliott.¹ It is a type of resonant breathing, which focuses on taking less breaths per minute by breathing more slowly. Unlike some other types of breathwork, coherent breathing focuses on the length of inhalation and exhalation, and not on how deeply you are taking in air.

Coherent breathing is commonly used in:

• Stress management
• Yoga for anxiety
• Meditation
• Hatha yoga
• Tai Chi
• Mindfulness based stress reduction

How Does Coherent Breathing Work?

Coherent breathing works by controlling the length of each breath, in order to take less breaths per minute. This engages your phrenic nerve, which enhances blood circulation and stimulates your vagus nerve.¹ When you stimulate your vagus nerve, you can take your nervous system out of the fight or flight response and bring yourself back to a more grounded state.

Coherent breathing works by improving functioning of :

• Phrenic nerve: This nerve controls the diaphragm and is essential to breathing. Coherent breathing helps engage the phrenic nerve in a slow and consistent rhythm, which increases the circulation of blood in the body.
• Vagus nerve: The vagus nerve is the biggest part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls many of the body’s functions, such as breath rate, digestion, and heart rate. It is also responsible for fight, flight or freeze responses. Coherent breathing can stimulate the vagus nerve, which moves the nervous system out of fight or flight and into a more calm state.
• Amygdala: The amygdala is responsible for emotional responses, such as fear and anxiety. This part of the brain can take over when a person is in a fight or flight response. Coherent breathing can disengage this part of the brain and put the more logical parts of the brain back in control.

Benefits of Coherent Breathing

Although we breathe automatically, we can consciously choose to control our breath. This disengages our flight or fight response in moments of stress or overwhelm, and signals to our body and mind that we are safe. Coherent breathing can also help to improve focus, improve quality of sleep, and reduce muscle tension.

Benefits of coherent breathing include:

Increased Cardiovascular Functioning

When we are stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed our heart rate increases. If our bodies stay in a stressed state for too long, we can decrease our heart rate variability (HRV). A low HRV puts an individual at higher risk for developing heart related health issues, while a high HRV typically means your nervous system is balanced and healthier.²
Cardiac coherent breathing is a form of coherent breathing that focuses on matching your breath to your heart rate. Over time this can help with increased cognitive and emotional functioning.³

Some cardiovascular benefits of coherent breathing include:

• Lowers heart rate
• Lowers blood pressure
• Increases heart rate variability

Improved Respiratory Function

Coherent breathing engages the diaphragm, which enables the heart to work less hard while increasing blood circulation. Breathing coherently relaxes the body as well, which combined with the diaphragm movement, creates a system for better gas exchange and healthier circulation.⁴

Decreased Stress & Anxiety

Coherent breathing engages the vagus nerve, which then engages the parasympathetic nervous system, thus moving those with anxiety or toxic stress out of “fight or flight” mode to a more relaxed response. Practicing this routinely builds up a resilience to stress over time and better manages both the emotional physical symptoms that accompany anxiety.

Coherent breathing is also a form of mindfulness for anxiety and can be incorporated into a meditation for anxiety practice. A study published in 2020 shows that GABA levels increased after twelve weeks of yoga and coherent breathwork.⁵ GABA produces a calming effect and is known to manage feelings of anxiety and fear.

Increased Emotional Regulation

Coherent breathing is a way to regulate emotions by focusing on the present and remaining grounded. It can also help you reduce your reactivity because coherent breathing relaxes the nervous system out of the stress response.  Coherent breathing can be used as a part of practices that help to navigate challenging emotions and disorders, such as meditation for anger, or mindfulness for borderline personality disorder.

Decreased Depression

Coherent breathing can assist with improving symptoms of depression. Coherent breathing brings you back to the baseline response in your nervous system and creates a greater sense of calm. Practicing regularly can keep you grounded and help you better regulate your emotions. A recent study showed that those who practiced coherent breathing for a period of time had a lower score on the Beck Depression Inventory.⁶

Reduced Insomnia

Insomnia can often be caused by stress, anxiety, and racing thoughts at night. Working on adding coherent breathing to your mindfulness routine can strengthen your body’s relaxation response, helping you fall asleep easier. Using coherent breathing “in the moment” can also help you fall asleep by giving your mind something else to focus on (besides those intrusive thoughts) and bringing you back to a state of calm.

How to Practice Coherent Breathing

Coherent breathing is a practice in which a person focuses on six bridges, or areas, that should be relaxed progressively and consciously: the face, throat and tongue, hands, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and feet.⁴ The great thing about coherent breathing is that anyone can do it, anywhere, and anytime. You do not need any special equipment or training.

Wherever you start something new, it can be helpful to not have any expectations, just try it and see how it feels. The more you practice coherent breathing, the easier it will become and you’ll notice your stress response lessening and your relaxation response increasing.

Here are seven instructions on how to practice coherent breathing:

1. Find a comfortable position that you can relax in. When first starting it’s helpful to sit down so you can truly focus on your breath.
2. Remove any distractions around you.
3. Begin to notice your breath without changing anything. How many breaths are you taking per minute? What areas in your body are the breaths filling up?
4. Place your hands on your belly to make sure you are using your diaphragm while breathing. Your belly should expand with every inhale, and contract with every exhale.
5. Start to change the pattern of your inhalations and exhalations, so that they both last three seconds. Continue this for one minute.
6. Once you feel comfortable, gradually increase your inhales and exhales to four seconds, five seconds, and finally up to six seconds.
7. Practice this for five minutes and work your way up to twenty minutes of coherent breathing.
8. If you find your mind racing or wandering at any time during this practice, it’s ok. Just bring your attention back to your breath.
9. Once done, you can record your thoughts in a journal. What did you notice during your practice? How did you feel when you started versus how you feel now?

Where to Find a Coherent Breathing Professional

Breathing is the starting point for many meditation and mindfulness practices. No matter your age, background, or location, breathwork is an easy way to remain grounded in the present moment when you’re feeling stressed. However, if you are afraid of doing it incorrectly or are not sure how to begin, you have many different professionals who can help you get started.

Professionals who can help you learn and practice coherent breathing include:

• Yoga teachers: Breathwork is a core limb of yoga and has been around for thousands of years. Yoga teachers can help you learn more about how to perform coherent breathing correctly.
• Breathwork facilitators: Breathwork facilitators undergo extensive coursework and receive certification in breathing techniques, and can guide you through coherent breathing for both beginners and those who want to get more advanced.
• Respiratory therapists: Respiratory therapists are trained to work with individuals who have cardiopulmonary issues. They can teach you cardiac coherent breathing techniques if you have a respiratory condition.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Mindfulness-based CBT focuses on helping people identify how their thoughts affect their emotions and behavior, using both mindfulness and CBT. Sessions may incorporate coherent breathing to help regulate emotions.