4-7-8 Breathing • Hacker News Board

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#21

Post by ulnarkressty » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 5:51 PM UTC

kdamica wrote: post #15

There are lots of different ways to do this. The important thing for anyone wanting to get started is just to get started and not get hung up on which one you're doing. Box breathing, Wim Hof method, etc, are all great and any breathwork is better than none. For an intro to the topic, James Nestor's Breath is excellent.

Every time I try breathwork (be it box or x-y-z) I feel that the intervals are too long - by the time I finish breathing out my brain goes into panic mode and the next breath is not enough to compensate. I find them the exact opposite of relaxing.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#22

Post by babyent » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 5:58 PM UTC

Nice!

Is there something wrong on my end? The IN animates fully, which is a nice visual cue. The HOLD remains static which is nice. But the OUT does not completely animate and it throws me off.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#23

Post by kdamica » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 5:59 PM UTC

ulnarkressty wrote: post #21

kdamica wrote: post #15

There are lots of different ways to do this. The important thing for anyone wanting to get started is just to get started and not get hung up on which one you're doing. Box breathing, Wim Hof method, etc, are all great and any breathwork is better than none. For an intro to the topic, James Nestor's Breath is excellent.

Every time I try breathwork (be it box or x-y-z) I feel that the intervals are too long - by the time I finish breathing out my brain goes into panic mode and the next breath is not enough to compensate. I find them the exact opposite of relaxing.

I also do not find breathwork relaxing, and it's not always meant to be. The Wim Hof method in particular will definitely amp you up and cause some strange feelings. But if you are really having a bad time with it and want to continue, just find some interval that works for you. There is no one right answer for how to do this.

On a personal note, I realized through breathwork that I was taking deep breaths incorrectly for most of my life. Maybe it's my anatomy, but when I take a deep, fast breath, my nostrils constrict and limit the airflow. It was a real breakthrough for me when I learned to focus on my diaphram while flaring my nostrils. The breaths I can take are so much more satisfying.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#24

Post by ajb » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:04 PM UTC

kdamica wrote: post #23

ulnarkressty wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I try breathwork (be it box or x-y-z) I feel that the intervals are too long - by the time I finish breathing out my brain goes into panic mode and the next breath is not enough to compensate. I find them the exact opposite of relaxing.

I also do not find breathwork relaxing, and it's not always meant to be. The Wim Hof method in particular will definitely amp you up and cause some strange feelings. But if you are really having a bad time with it and want to continue, just find some interval that works for you. There is no one right answer for how to do this. On a personal note, I realized through breathwork that I was taking deep breaths incorrectl…

Wim hof may not be meant to be relaxing, but box (square) breathing is definitely supposed to be. It's recommended in many places for anxiety by reputable organisations.

Of course, different people are different. If it actually makes anxiety worse then don't do it, or seek advice. It's difficult to know why the GP has this reaction.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#25

Post by Tmpod » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:04 PM UTC

babyent wrote: post #22

Nice! Is there something wrong on my end? The IN animates fully, which is a nice visual cue. The HOLD remains static which is nice. But the OUT does not completely animate and it throws me off.

Looks fine to me. The circle grows when you're inhaling and shrinks when you're exhaling.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#26

Post by lbj » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:23 PM UTC

Easily one of the worst UI's I've seen since 2020.

Timing the initial in/exhales is tricky, because the circle contracts, not to its center, but to a nearly invisible (on my screen at least) smaller circle in the middle. No visible counters.

After a while, it just says "Hold". No indication that we're done. And I sit there, almost dying for 2 minutes before realizing, that it's done some kind of quiet-quitting routine on me.

Other than that I enjoyed it.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#27

Post by cubefox » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:24 PM UTC

This may be a stupid question, but why do we need to exercise breathing? We do it all the time anyway, shouldn't we be pretty good at it by now?

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#28

Post by bravoetch » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:24 PM UTC

PretzelPirate wrote: post #19

I used it and the timer stopped when I was in the Hold command. Am I allowed to exhale? I think the timer should be a multiple of the time to complete one full cycle, ending on an exhale.

How does it matter what part of the cycle it stops on? Maybe better to show the timer is done. Maybe they can add a disclaimer for people that aren't sure if they should keep breathing when they're not being told to.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#29

Post by lkuty » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:25 PM UTC

ulnarkressty wrote: post #21

kdamica wrote: post #15

There are lots of different ways to do this. The important thing for anyone wanting to get started is just to get started and not get hung up on which one you're doing. Box breathing, Wim Hof method, etc, are all great and any breathwork is better than none. For an intro to the topic, James Nestor's Breath is excellent.

Every time I try breathwork (be it box or x-y-z) I feel that the intervals are too long - by the time I finish breathing out my brain goes into panic mode and the next breath is not enough to compensate. I find them the exact opposite of relaxing.

I like to start breathing using my own rythm and then after a while the intervals widen naturally and I could then synchronize my breathing with one of the well known patterns but usuallly I don't. If I try to start with e.g. 4-7-8 I have the same problem of going into panic mode and then I am not relaxed at all and heart pulses go up instead of going down.

Re: 4-7-8 Breathing

#30

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Jun 06, 2025, 6:29 PM UTC

ulnarkressty wrote: post #21

kdamica wrote: post #15

There are lots of different ways to do this. The important thing for anyone wanting to get started is just to get started and not get hung up on which one you're doing. Box breathing, Wim Hof method, etc, are all great and any breathwork is better than none. For an intro to the topic, James Nestor's Breath is excellent.

Every time I try breathwork (be it box or x-y-z) I feel that the intervals are too long - by the time I finish breathing out my brain goes into panic mode and the next breath is not enough to compensate. I find them the exact opposite of relaxing.

I tried imposing structure but whenever I feel you like you say you do, I just revert to the mean. The rule is to not stress your system / mind above a certain threshold.