Angry? 90 seconds.
This is Extended Exhale breathing: 4 seconds in, 6 seconds slowly out. The longer exhale switches on your calming nerve (the parasympathetic system) and takes the edge off anger’s stress-hormone wave, which floods your body for about 90 seconds. Press start and breathe with the circle until the timer ends.
Breathe with the circle until the timer ends. That’s all you have to do.
With voice: a short explanation plays first, then the voice guides you through every breath. You can mute it anytime.
Why 90 seconds?
Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor calls it the “90-second rule”: the chemical process of an emotion (adrenaline and cortisol flooding your body) lasts about 90 seconds. Everything after that is the story you keep telling yourself about it. The timer helps you ride out those first 90 seconds without reacting.