For times when we wish to bring a greater focus to the breath, we can use the recordings from the HRV Notifications Only project. This is a series of experiences that consist of only bells & cymbals and no music.
The series was originally created through a request in order to provide a deeper focus on the breath.
If this is your first time learning about HRV Breathing, please refer to the following link for a Quickstart Guide.
When the first few HRV recordings were released, specifically New Beginnings and the MINDSPACE project, the timing of the breathing was set at a 1 second differential. This means that for every breath we take, the exhale is one second longer than the inhale.
When we understand that the brain sends a signal to the heart to slow down when we breath out, we can see that this means the brain is telling the heart to slow down for a second longer with each breath.
One second is all that is necessary to activate the parasympathetic nervous system but some may notice that having a longer exhale may induce a deeper experience. Because of this, two additional playlists were created to provide those experiences.
Please try them and see which one works best. Note that your ideal breath rate may be different between them so adjust accordingly. As an example, if my ideal breath rate with a 1 second differential is 3 breaths per minute, it may be 3.5 breaths per minute or higher with a 2 or 3 second differential.
Remember to listen to the body and see how you feel. If there is any discomfort or any feeling of holding the breath, pick a different rate. Discomfort or a feeling of effort are signs that we are engaging the sympathetic nervous system which creates the opposite effect of what we are looking to achieve.
Here are the playlists:
In the first playlist, the out breath is one second longer than the in breath
In the second playlist, the out breath is two seconds longer than the in breath.
In the third playlist, the out breath is three seconds longer than the in breath.