Box Breathing Timer

How to use

1. 1Pick a pattern preset (Box 4-4-4-4, 4-7-8, Coherent 5-5, Triangle, Diaphragmatic 4-2-6, or Custom). The phase boxes update to show the seconds for each step.
2. 2Optionally tweak any phase from 0 to 30 seconds in the sidebar. Setting a phase to 0 skips it, so the same controls cover three-phase and two-phase patterns.
3. 3Set a Cycle limit if you want the session to stop after a fixed number of breaths (4 to 10 is typical). Leave it at 0 to run unlimited.
4. 4Toggle Soft audio cues off if you only want the visual guide. Cues are generated locally and never download an audio file.
5. 5Press Start. Inhale as the circle expands, hold when it stops, exhale as the circle contracts, and hold empty before the next breath. Space pauses and resumes, S skips a phase, R resets.

About this tool

Box Breathing Timer guides a four-phase breathing pattern with an animated expanding-and-contracting circle, optional soft audio cues, and one-tap presets for the patterns people most often search for. The classic Box 4-4-4-4 (inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4) was popularized by US Navy SEALs as tactical breathing to steady focus under stress; the 4-7-8 Relaxing pattern (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8) shifts the body toward rest by holding longer than it inhales; 5-5 Coherent breathing (no holds) sits at roughly six breaths per minute, the resonance rate linked to heart-rate variability work in sports and therapy; Triangle 4-4-4 drops the second hold for a gentler entry; and Diaphragmatic 4-2-6 lengthens the exhale, a pattern common in physiotherapy and yoga. A Custom preset lets every phase be set independently from 0 to 30 seconds, and any phase whose duration is 0 is skipped, so the same engine plays every pattern without separate code paths. The countdown is anchored against the monotonic performance.now clock so it stays accurate when the tab is backgrounded or the device sleeps briefly, the same approach used by the site's pomodoro and interval timers. Soft two-tone sine pings (rising for inhale, falling for exhale, single tone for holds, an ascending chime when a cycle limit is reached) are generated locally with the Web Audio API; nothing is loaded from a URL and nothing is recorded. A cycle limit can cap the session at any number of cycles, or it can be set to 0 to run unlimited until you pause or reset. Live stats track cycles completed, the length of one cycle in seconds, the equivalent breaths-per-minute, and the session time elapsed since the last reset. Useful for anxiety in the moment, pre-sleep wind-down, focus before a presentation or interview, breath training between climbing routes or boxing rounds, post-workout heart-rate recovery, classroom calm-down breaks, and any moment where a paced, visual breathing guide is more useful than a stopwatch. Everything runs in the browser; nothing is uploaded, nothing is saved between sessions.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.