Cardiac Coherence App: The 365 Method on iPhone, iPad and Mac

What cardiac coherence is

Cardiac coherence is slow, even breathing at about 6 breaths per minute: 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out, for around 5 minutes. No holds, no complicated counts.

At this pace, your heart rate rises slightly on the inhale and falls on the exhale in a smooth, regular wave. Researchers call this resonance, and it is the basis of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback. For a full explanation, see the cardiac coherence breathing guide.

The technique is simple, but keeping a steady rhythm for 5 minutes is harder than it sounds. That is where an app helps: you follow a visual pacer instead of watching a clock.

The 365 method

A popular way to build the habit, especially in France, is the “365” routine:

• 3 times a day
• 6 breaths per minute
• 5 minutes each session

In practice: morning before checking messages, midday before lunch, evening to close the workday. If three sessions is too much, one session a day is still useful.

BreathInU tracks your streak, so you know how many days in a row you practiced, and shows total sessions and minutes over time.

Cardiac coherence in BreathInU

In the app, cardiac coherence is the Simple Breath exercise. On iPhone, iPad or Mac:

1. Open the Home tab or browse Breathing.
2. Tap Simple Breath.
3. Watch a circle grow as you breathe in and shrink as you breathe out, with a soft sound (crystal bowl, Tibetan bowl, or silence) at each change.
4. Close your eyes after the first breath if you like; the sound keeps you on pace.

By default the app runs a quick 40-second session (5 breaths of 4 seconds each way). To follow the 365 method, open settings before you start and set the breathing duration to 5 seconds and the number of breaths to 30. The app remembers your settings.

iPhone features for daily practice

• Widgets: a home screen or Lock Screen widget shows your streak. Tap it to open the app and start immediately.
• Siri and Shortcuts: say “Hey Siri, start Simple Breath” or add the exercise to an automation that runs at the same time each day. See Siri, Spotlight and Shortcuts.
• Apple Health: each session saves as mindful minutes, so it counts toward your daily activity goals.
• Haptic feedback: a gentle vibration at each change if you turn the sound off.

These features make it easier to keep the 365 rhythm without relying on willpower alone.

Do you need a heart rate monitor?

No. Despite the name “cardiac coherence,” you do not need a heart rate monitor to practice. The research behind the method uses HRV sensors, but the breathing itself is what matters. Slow, even breathing at 6 breaths per minute produces the effect; the sensor just measures it.

If you want biofeedback, BreathInU does not include live HRV tracking. Use it as a pacer, and track HRV separately in Apple Health or a dedicated app.

Cardiac coherence vs other techniques

• Box breathing adds holds (inhale-hold-exhale-hold). It is better when you need focus under pressure. Guide: box breathing.
• 4-6 breathing makes the exhale longer than the inhale (4 in, 6 out), a stronger downshift for the evening. Guide: 4-6 breathing.
• Cardiac coherence keeps both halves equal. It is the most neutral of the three, good at any time of day.

If you are new to breathing exercises, start with cardiac coherence. It has no holds and nothing to get wrong.

Download the cardiac coherence app

BreathInU is free on the App Store. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with your progress synced through iCloud.

Read the cardiac coherence guide to understand the science and common mistakes, then use the app to keep the rhythm without watching a clock.