New app aims to reduce stress with slow breathing

Want to reduce stress and improve mental focus? A new app that promotes slow breathing may help.

Called MyCalmBeat, the app uses a heart rate monitor that attaches to the ear to detect a person's optimal breathing rate, or resonant frequency, which is unique to each person.

At this breathing rate, the company says the user can increase the variability of their heart rate to lower stress levels.

"People don't realize the profound impact that slow breathing can have until they actually sit down and do it for 10 minutes and then they feel completely different," said Savannah DeVarney, vice president of product marketing for MyBrainSolutions, the creators of the app.

After finding their ideal breathing rate, animated exercises show users how to breathe at that rate, while the heart monitor provides feedback about the variability of their heart rate.

How it Works

MyCalmBeat works by increasing your heart rate variability through slow breathing. MyCalmBeat first calculates your personal best breathing rate where you are most calm, and then gives you tools to train by breathing at that rate.

Your personal best breathing rate is unique to you, and does not change. It reflects the physical properties of your cardiovascular system.

"Normally people think of 65 beats per minute as a good resting heart rate. But we're not necessarily looking at heart rate - we're looking at the degree to which the space between consecutive heart beats varies," DeVarney explained.

When a person is stressed their heart rate becomes consistent and variability is minimized. But when relaxed, variability is maximized, slowing down as you breathe out and speeding up as you breathe in.

"We know that for most people their resonant frequency is between 7.5 and 4.5 breaths per minute. The software maps your heart rate variability through each of those rates to find the breathing rate where it becomes maximized," said DeVarney.

When to use MyCalmBeat

We recommend training every day for about 10 minutes. But just like any exercise, the more you do it the bigger the benefit. Consistent daily training will help you strengthen the calm responses in your body that help you manage stress.

You can also use MyCalmBeat just before a stressful event or when you need to perform such as an important presentation. MyCalmBeat can also be beneficial when used before sleep to during periods of pain such as headaches.

This frequency remains consistent throughout adult life, and usually only varies during childhood or pregnancy.

DeVarney said the company collaborated with Dr Richard Gevirtz, a professor at the Alliant International University in San Diego, California, who conducts research in heart rate variability.