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Protocols get passed around because they worked for someone, often someone with a large audience. That is not the same as fitting you. Keep the shape of the thing, which here is a longer exhale, and treat the exact numbers as adjustable. Noticing that your version differs is not a sign you are doing it wrong.
who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down (Quran 3:191). The posture is left open and the remembering is what counts.
آل عمران
ٱلَّذِينَ يَذۡكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمࣰ ا وَقُعُودࣰ ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَٰذَا بَٰطِلࣰ ا سُبۡحَٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose- You are far above that!- so protect us from the torment of the Fire
Qur’an 3:191read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
When 76 stressed adults were randomised to self-help physical activity, mindfulness meditation or heart rate variability biofeedback for five weeks, all three reduced stress and related symptoms by a similar amount. Different routes, similar destination, which fits the idea that the branded specifics matter less than doing something steadily. It was a small trial of self-help formats, so it cannot tell you which one will suit you.
van der Zwan JE, de Vente W, Huizink AC, Bögels SM, de Bruin EI. (2015). Physical activity, mindfulness meditation, or heart rate variability biofeedback for stress reduction: a randomized controlled trial.. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
The same instruction meets a different body every time, so the result varies even when the technique does not.
Go slowly enough to learn something about yourself, rather than only a technique. What is worth keeping is knowing which breath does what in your body.
To find the soft ocean sounding breath, breathe out through your mouth as if fogging up a mirror. Then keep that same slight narrowing at the throat with your mouth closed, and let the sound get quieter and quieter.
Breathe in for about five and out for about ten, and do not hold at the top. Go straight from the in breath into the out breath, five to ten times over.