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Slow breathing on its own does less than slow breathing with a warm feeling attached and something showing you how you are doing.
That is the difference between the deep breathing most people have tried and found underwhelming, and this. The feedback matters because otherwise you cannot tell whether you have found the right pace, and the pace is the active bit. If you wrote breathing exercises off years ago, it is worth knowing you may have been doing the thin version.
Qur’an and Sunnah
'So remember Me; I will remember you' (Quran 2:152). Something comes back, and that returning is part of what makes a practice hold.
فَٱذۡكُرُونِيٓ أَذۡكُرۡكُمۡ وَٱشۡكُرُواْ لِي وَلَا تَكۡفُرُونِ
So remember Me; I will remember you. Be thankful to Me, and never ungrateful
Qur’an 2:152read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A randomised mechanistic trial in a hundred and two combat veterans with PTSD separated mindfulness from slow breathing and found the two engage somewhat different pathways, which supports the general point that the ingredients are not interchangeable. A systematic review of randomised trials found slow paced breathing with feedback improved a wide range of emotional, physical and performance outcomes, with effects varying by problem. Neither isolates the warm feeling part specifically.
Wahbeh H, Goodrich E, Goy E, Oken BS. (2016). Mechanistic Pathways of Mindfulness Meditation in Combat Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.. Journal of clinical psychology doi
Lehrer P, Kaur K, Sharma A, Shah K, Huseby R, Bhavsar J, Sgobba P, Zhang Y. (2020). Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Improves Emotional and Physical Health and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis.. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
A display turns something invisible into a target, and you can only steer what you can see.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Irritability, a hot face, itchiness, a mild earache or feeling slightly off balance are common while doing this. People often say it feels like getting off a long flight.
Rest your attention in the middle of your chest, let your breath slow as though it were moving in and out through there, and bring to mind something you feel warmly about.
If you cannot feel your own state yet, a device that shows it on a screen can stand in until you can.