The goal is to train your breathing to go to a set pace, following the breathing pacer.

• Sit or lay down comfortably, in a quiet place.
• Check and log your starting mood. Are you feeling stressed? Are you anxious? Are you angry? If so, your mood is probably below a score of 5. If you are calm, happy, excited, your mood is probably higher than 5.
• Adjust the timer settings. The default session is set to 2 minutes. You can extend or decrease the number of minutes you want to train your breathing. We recommend that if you are new to breathing exercises, you start with only one or two minutes per session. Increase the number of minutes only when you can follow the pacer without getting distracted for most of the session.
• Press “start” to start the timer.
• Place one hand in your chest and one in your abdomen.
• Start breathing following the pacer (inhale/exhale)
• Breath through your abdomen, not your chest. You will notice the hand in the abdomen moving when the abdomen expands (inhales), and the hand in the chest should remain still (chest should not expand, shoulders should remain low).
• Focus on the breathing pacer. Follow its movement and instructions as it expands and shrinks.
• Try to let go of any thoughts that come to mind. While doing this exercise, the goal is to keep your focus in the moving pacer, and letting go of anything else that comes to mind. Think of it as a mind reboot.
• If you begin feeling dizzy or lightheaded, stop for a few minutes and resume again when you feel better.

Don’t forget to log your activity and mood!

You can choose to do your breathing activity on its own, or while doing another activity you like, such as while watching your favorite show.

If you choose to do it while doing another activity, following the pacer might be tricky. In a few months, we will have an app with haptics to help you follow the pacer.

For now, take a small break from the activity to do your breathing exercise. For example, if you are watching TV use a commercial break to do the breathing exercise at that time.

Keeping a log of your mood before and after the activity, will help you understand which are the activities that help you feel better, and which are the ones that stress you out.

For example, if before browsing your social media feed your mood was 7 (pretty calm or content), and after you are done browsing your mood is now at 5, that means that something you read might have upsetted you.

Don’t worry! This awareness of how your mood changes is what we need, so that we can do something to reset you and put you back in a better mood.

If this was the case, try doing a breathing exercise again by itself or while doing another activity (for example, listening to music).

Earn your Optimalist points and badges!

To earn coins you must submit your starting and ending mood, after finishing each breathing session. You can submit multiple sessions per day.