The simulation shows a real-time breathing waveform paired with a beat-by-beat heart rate trace, illustrating how heart rate climbs during inhalation and falls during exhalation, and how slowing the breathing rate reshapes the size of that oscillation.
Drag the breathing rate slider between roughly 6 and 20 breaths per minute, or select the resonance frequency preset near 6 breaths per minute, and press play to watch the heart rate trace ripple in sync with each simulated inhale and exhale.
Breathing rate slider, resonance frequency preset, play/pause, reset trace
In a resting adult, heart rate variation across a single breath can commonly reach 5 to 15 beats per minute, but slow-paced breathing near an individual's resonance frequency, often close to 6 breaths per minute, can amplify that swing several times over by synchronizing with the roughly 10-second delay of the baroreflex loop.
The simulation shows a real-time breathing waveform paired with a beat-by-beat heart rate trace, illustrating how heart rate climbs during inhalation and falls during exhalation, and how slowing the breathing rate reshapes the size of that oscillation.
The simulation shows a real-time breathing waveform paired with a beat-by-beat heart rate trace, illustrating how heart rate climbs during inhalation and falls during exhalation, and how slowing the breathing rate reshapes the size of that oscillation.
Drag the breathing rate slider between roughly 6 and 20 breaths per minute, or select the resonance frequency preset near 6 breaths per minute, and press play to watch the heart rate trace ripple in sync with each simulated inhale and exhale.
In a resting adult, heart rate variation across a single breath can commonly reach 5 to 15 beats per minute, but slow-paced breathing near an individual's resonance frequency, often close to 6 breaths per minute, can amplify that swing several times over by synchronizing with the roughly 10-second delay of the baroreflex loop.