Ten Breaths

The science

Everything in Ten Breaths traces back to a published study. This page lists them, and explains the choices I made because of them.

Why box breathing is the default

The famous result in this space is the 2023 Stanford trial (Balban et al.), which found that five minutes a day of cyclic sighing improved mood more than mindfulness meditation over a month. It's a good study. It's also about daily practice and mood, not about the four minutes before an interview.

The closest study to what Ten Breaths does was published in 2026: 47 people did one minute of either cyclic sighing or box breathing in real-life stressful moments, on their phones. Both cut anxiety with a large effect, and there was no difference between them. But participants rated box breathing significantly easier and less annoying, and were more likely to use it again. Under stress, equal counts win: there is nothing to think about.

So the default is box breathing. Slow 5-5 breathing is there for people who dislike breath holds. Cyclic sighing is there too, for its mood benefit, but it is not what I hand you when you're rattled.

Why the app says what it says at the end

When a session ends, the circle shows one short line. None of them are affirmations in the motivational-poster sense. Each comes from a specific effect:

Sources

Why a dragonfly

A dragonfly holds perfectly still in the air by beating its wings thirty times a second. It looks calm; it is working. That's the honest picture of a composed person before a big meeting, and it's what ten breaths buy you: not the absence of nerves, but nerves held steady. In Japan the dragonfly is kachimushi, the victory insect, because it only flies forward. Also, it has four wings and six legs.

A note on honesty

The effects here are real but modest. Breathing for two minutes will not fix a bad night's sleep or an unprepared presentation. It will get you into the room in better shape than you walked up to it. That's the whole promise.