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Right now

If it is a lot at this moment, start here. Nothing to set up, nothing to read first.

Breathe with this

Following a rhythm gives your attention something to hold. Three rounds is usually enough to feel a change, and there is no number you are aiming for.

Ready when you are

Pattern

About the picture and the soundStrength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account. They are here to help you stay with the practice, not to treat anything.

The sound is generated in your own browser and is not a recording. No file is fetched, nothing is tracked, and it works offline.

In for four, out for six, nothing held. This is the rate most of the research uses, and the pace matters more than the exact counts.

The three rhythms, in full

Steady, about six a minute. In for four, out for six, nothing held. This is the rate most of the research uses, and the pace matters more than the exact counts.

Two in, one long out. Two breaths in through the nose, the second one short, then a long breath out through the mouth. In a trial that compared it against other breathing and against mindfulness, this was the one that improved mood.

Longer out than in. In for four, out for eight. Some people prefer a longer out breath. The evidence that it does more than the steady pace is thin, so take it as a preference rather than a rule.

Cool at the nostrils on the way in. Warmer on the way out.
If it helps, let the belly move rather than the chest. This is a cue, not a correction.
If following the pace makes it worse, stop and read the next part instead.

Come back to the room

Out loud or in your head. Slowly. There is no right answer.

Five senses, counting down. It works by giving your attention somewhere ordinary to be. It takes about two minutes and nobody can tell you are doing it.

5 things you can see
4 things you can feel
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste

If this is more than a hard moment

Inshirah is not a crisis service and there is nobody reading this page. If you are thinking of harming yourself, or you are not safe, please reach a person now. It is not an overreaction and you are not wasting their time.

Immediate danger, anywhere Your country’s emergency number. North America 911. Britain and Ireland 999. The European Union and Turkey 112. Australia 000. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar 999. India, Nigeria and Russia 112. Malaysia and Bangladesh 999. Egypt 122. Pakistan 15.
If you cannot speak safely in the UK Call 999, wait for the operator, then press 55. Silence on its own does not bring help. Pressing 55 does.
Canada and the United States Call or text 988. It is a statutory service and it is free, 24 hours, every day.
Britain NHS 111, then choose the mental health option. Free, 24 hours, and it reaches your local crisis team.
Anywhere else A hospital emergency department has to see you and is open at three in the morning. So does your doctor, in the day.

A minute each, from the library

Breathe in, then let it out as a sigh you can actually hear. Not a polite one.

The sound is the point. A silent out breath does some of the work, and letting the voice into it adds a bit more, which is probably why sighing turns…

A minuteGrounding and settlingBody basedQur’an 3:126Long taught, never tested

In the thick of it, keep your eyes open and give them something outside you to rest on. A fingertip, a doorframe, the line where the wall meets the ceiling.

Closing your eyes takes away the evidence that you are here and safe, and for some people it lets images in that they were holding off. Most…

A minuteGrounding and settlingBody basedQur’an 2:22Long taught, never tested

Cross your arms over your chest, hook your thumbs together, and tap your shoulders slowly, left then right. You set the pressure and the speed.

Twenty or thirty seconds is enough to feel something shift, and most people find the breath falls into step with the tapping on its own. Warmth in…

A minuteGrounding and settlingBody basedQur’an 48:4Long taught, never tested