Music-guided breathing

Find calm — one Breathing Cycle at a time

Breathing Cycles is a free music library designed to slow your breath, activate the vagus nerve and bring body-mind balance. Used in schools, therapy and daily life worldwide.

Built on research, grounded in practice

The tempo and stereo motion guide you through inhale – hold – exhale. Simple, intuitive and powerful for daily regulation.

1.5 M +

Streams across Spotify and YouTube.

Used in education

Teaches presence and safe breathing to students.

What is Breathing Music

It began many years ago, after I experienced my first panic attack.

I discovered that by changing my breathing pattern, I could stop it from returning. I composed music with a steady, slow rhythm — a musical anchor to guide my breath whenever anxiety appeared.

Later, someone close to me was struggling, and I created my first album of breathing music, 5 Stille Moments. It was pure magic.

Since then I’ve collaborated with several therapists and teachers to create many hours of music for breathing practice. The method is always the same:

  • Use headphones
  • Lie down or sit comfortably
  • Press play and let the music guide your breath
  • Inhale as the sound moves from left to right; exhale as it flows back
  • Breathe through your nose; let the exhale be soft and natural
  • Don’t focus on taking more air — just slow down
  • Let emotions come — tears, yawns, smiles, laughter — all are release
  • Practice gentle belly breathing; it takes time to strengthen the diaphragm
  • End by thinking of someone you care about and notice how you feel

As a composer, husband and father of three daughters, I often need to reset my mind and find focus again. Without this method, I don’t know where life would have led me.

Made with love,
Øyvind

The Future of Breathing Cycles

Once, Breathing Music was simply a way out of a personal crisis.

Today it has grown into something much larger — a response to a shared human need. Breathing Cycles began as a simple tool for inner calm, but has evolved into a project exploring how sound, breath and technology can work together to restore balance in modern life.

It’s no longer just about slowing down; it’s about remembering how we are connected — body, mind, sound and breath. The future of Breathing Cycles is about building bridges between art and science, people and technology, the outer and inner worlds.

Technology shouldn’t distance us from life — it should bring us closer to it. I believe that art, music, nature and community are what will guide us forward. If this project helps even one person find a moment of peace, it has already fulfilled its purpose.

Perhaps this is only the beginning.
Breathing Music now has a physical home — an installation where sound is felt as much as it is heard.
Inside this small breathing space, time nearly stands still.
Investors with both heart — and perhaps pain — are welcome to get in touch.
For relief where medicine doesn’t reach or isn’t desired — that’s what I’m working on now.

If you’d like to experience one of my personal favorites, try 6:3 to 20:10 from the album Slow Breathing Meditation. It gradually guides you from a natural breathing rhythm to deep, slow breathing — down to two breaths per minute. Stop whenever it feels right, and enjoy the calm that follows.

Learn the Technique

Headphones on. Inhale through your nose, exhale softly through your mouth. Let the music set the rhythm.

1) Awareness

Place a hand on your belly and feel it rise and fall as you breathe.

2) Choose your rhythm

Select a playlist matching your goal — reset, unwind, or sleep. Let the tempo guide you.

3) Follow and grow

Breathe with the stereo movement. Start with 3–5 minutes and increase naturally.

How the Music Guides the Breath

From quick resets to deep sleep preparation. Click to listen on Spotify, or play directly below.

Quick Reset (3 min)

Three minutes to restore focus and calm — ideal before meetings or transitions.

Listen on Spotify

Vagus Breathing

5 seconds in, 5 seconds out – balances the nervous system in 10 minutes.

Listen on Spotify

4-7-8 for Sleep

Inhale 4 – hold 7 – exhale 8 seconds. Clinically proven to reduce stress and heart rate.

Listen on Spotify

Songbirds

From 5 Stille Moments. Soothing for both children and adults – many babies fall asleep to it.

Listen on Spotify

How Breathing Music Works

Breathing Music combines sound, rhythm, and the body’s natural reflex to slow the breath. Here’s a short introduction to how it’s built — and why it feels so deeply calming.

Getting Started

Slow breathing is the body’s simplest path to calm. When you breathe slowly, your lungs send safety signals to the brain, and the vagus nerve activates. Breathing Cycles supports this process through rhythm and spatial movement: the sound travels from left (inhale) to right (exhale), helping your body follow the rhythm effortlessly.

Why Left to Right

When you inhale and the sound moves from left toward the center, the right hemisphere of the brain — connected to presence and emotion — becomes more active. As the exhale continues toward the right side, the left hemisphere — linked to logic and calm — takes over. This gentle alternation helps synchronize both sides of the brain, creating balance and clarity.

How the Vagus Nerve Responds

The vagus nerve connects the brain with the heart, lungs, and digestive system. When you breathe deeply and slowly, your lungs send calming signals that slow the heart rate and reduce blood pressure. The combination of slow breathing and bilateral sound movement amplifies this effect — guiding the body into balance.

Neurological Explanation

Slow, even breathing increases activity in the vagus nerve — the body’s own “calm-down button.” It lowers heart rate and blood pressure while activating the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and recovery). Bilateral sound stimulation also supports higher heart rate variability (HRV), leading to steadier physiology and better emotional regulation.

HRV describes the variation in time between heartbeats. When you inhale, the sympathetic system activates and the heart beats faster. When you exhale, the vagus nerve slows it down and HRV increases. The greater this rhythmic variation, the better your body balances between action and rest. Slow breathing with extended exhale is therefore a simple way to train your nervous system.

The Science Behind Breathing Music

Behind calm lies biology. Breathing Music is grounded in research connecting rhythm, the vagus nerve, HRV, and the brain’s self-regulation mechanisms.

Read the full article

Practice Guide

Get to know your breath at your own pace. What matters most is not how far you go, but that you listen and continue exploring.

Start with Awareness

Sit quietly and observe your breathing. Over time, it naturally becomes slower and deeper.

Train Consistency

Short and often. 3–10 minutes a day is enough — one day at a time.

Keep Notes

Write down a few words before and after your sessions. You may start to notice patterns and progress over time.

Take Responsibility for the Journey

No app. No measurements. Just your own experience as the compass.

Music Library

Listen on Spotify or YouTube. Free for schools, therapy and personal practice.

Playlists

Ready in 3 min (QuickFix)

Fast reset for focus in minutes.

Reduce Stress

Soft grooves that release tension and ground you.

Sleep (Deep Calm & Relax)

Drift toward sleep with slow textures.

F*#% Anxiety

Breathe first – then music. Regain your footing.

Albums

Vagus Breathing

Activates the vagus nerve for deep relaxation.

Slow Breathing Meditation

A journey through slow breath cycles.

BREASE

55 building blocks to craft your own flow.

Inhale Hold Exhale

Like 4-7-8 – for balance after a long day.

Exhale Hold Inhale

Train a softer, longer exhale.

5 Stille Moments

The first breathing-music album.

Support the Vision

Breathing Cycles is free. Sharing helps it grow – and donations are welcome.

Share

Help someone discover breathing music for calm and focus.

Contribute

Support new releases and educational resources.

Donate

For Schools & Organizations

No active service yet – but reach out and let’s see what’s possible.

Contact Øyvind.

“Dear world, thank you for the challenges I was given.
Together with my education and today’s technology, I can give this back.
I hope from my heart that many find peace, strength and meaning through this tool.”

– Øyvind Blikstad