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About this tool
Guided 4-7-8 breathing: inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8, with a visual pacer, optional tones and a full session countdown.
The 4-7-8 Breathing Timer paces one of the simplest slow-breathing patterns there is: inhale quietly through the nose for 4 counts, hold for 7, then exhale through the mouth for 8. That makes one breath 19 counts long, so at the standard one-second pace you are breathing at roughly 3.2 breaths a minute — well inside the range researchers call slow or paced breathing. The pacer expands, holds and contracts in time with each phase, counts the seconds left, and can play a short tone at every phase change so you can practise with your eyes closed.
Open 4-7-8 Breathing Timer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Keeps the 4:7:8 ratio and the four-breath session that Dr Andrew Weil describes, rather than an approximation.
Optional tones mark each phase change so the practice works without watching the screen.
Warns when you exceed the usual eight-breath beginner ceiling and says plainly when to stop.
You inhale through the nose for 4 counts, hold the breath for 7, and exhale through the mouth for 8, making a 19-count cycle. Because the exhale is twice as long as the inhale, the pattern slows breathing to around 3 breaths per minute and emphasises the exhale, the phase associated with parasympathetic (rest) activity.
The usual guidance is four breaths per session, twice a day, and not more than eight breaths in one sitting during the first month of practice. The count matters less than doing it consistently; the effect is generally described as growing with regular practice rather than from a single long session.
Slow, extended-exhale breathing reliably lowers heart rate and self-reported arousal, which is why it is used as a wind-down routine, but the specific 4-7-8 ratio has limited trial evidence and is not a treatment for insomnia. If you regularly cannot sleep, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia has far stronger evidence — discuss it with a doctor.
For most healthy people it is safe when practised sitting or lying down, though the seven-count hold can cause brief light-headedness at first. Anyone with a respiratory condition such as COPD or poorly controlled asthma, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or who is pregnant should check with a doctor before adding breath holds.