On this page
Every session in this collection is quiet. There is no forceful breathing, no retention and nothing that raises arousal, because the state they are written for is one where effort is the wrong prescription.
What these sessions are
Gentle Recovery Breath is the shortest and the least demanding, and is the one to use on a day when even sitting up is a decision. Whole-Body Breath Renewal moves attention slowly through the body while the breath stays easy. Gentle Breath for Rebuilding is the most structured and suits a slightly better day. Breathwork for Vitality is the longest and asks the most, which is still not very much.
What they have in common is that the breath is never pushed. Everything is done within an easy range and the sessions expect you to stop early. That is unusual in a breathwork library and it is the whole design here.
It is worth being plain about what these are not. They are not a treatment for any illness, they do not shorten a recovery, and they have no effect on your immune system that anyone can demonstrate. A claim of that kind would need clinical evidence, and there is none being offered.
What the tradition says is that a settled, unforced breath supports rest, and it treats gentle practice as appropriate when strong practice is not. What people commonly report is that a quiet session is something manageable on a day when nothing else is. That is a small claim and it is the accurate one.
The sessions
4 sessions, 8 to 14 minutes. Every session in this collection needs Premium. Four other breathwork collections have a free session in them, and the free tier covers twelve guided sessions across the app.
| Session | Length | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Breathwork for Vitality | 14 min | Premium |
| Gentle Breath for Rebuilding | 10 min | Premium |
| Gentle Recovery Breath | 8 min | Premium |
| Whole-Body Breath Renewal | 12 min | Premium |
Which one to start with
Take Gentle Recovery Breath on the worst days. It is the shortest and it asks the least, and on a depleted day the session you can actually complete is the right one.
Whole-Body Breath Renewal suits a day with a little more in it, and is the one most people return to. Breathwork for Vitality is the longest and is better once you are on the way back rather than at the bottom.
If you are looking to feel alert rather than restored, this is the wrong collection and the energizing sessions are the right one. Those are also the ones to leave alone while your reserves are low.
How to use them
Practise lying down or well supported. There is nothing to be gained from holding yourself upright for these, and a propped position is fine.
Stop whenever you want to. These are built to be left, and half a session on a bad day is the session working as intended.
Keep the breath entirely within an easy range. If you find yourself reaching for a fuller breath than arrives on its own, that is the point to ease off.
Practise on the good days too, lightly. A quiet practice you already know is far easier to reach for than one you have to learn while depleted.
What usually goes wrong
Treating a gentle practice as a lesser one to be graduated from. These are not a stepping stone to the strong sessions. They are the appropriate practice for a particular state, and returning to them is not going backwards.
Adding effort because it feels too easy. Easy is the specification. Deepening the breath or adding a hold turns a restorative session into a mild energizing one, which is not what a depleted body wants.
Practising through illness because a session is scheduled. Rest is the practice on those days. Nothing here needs to be done daily and nothing is lost by missing it.
Expecting the session to fix the tiredness. It will not. What people report is that it makes an hour more bearable, and treating that as the goal is the difference between a useful practice and a disappointing one.
The gentlest practices in the app
PanchPrana keeps these entirely free of forceful breathing, so there is something to practise on the days when the rest of the library is the wrong idea. They sit alongside the breath awareness sessions, which ask even less.
Who should take care
These are the gentlest sessions in the breathwork library and there is nothing forceful in any of them. The cautions are mostly about what a persistent lack of energy might be, rather than about the practice.
If you are pregnant, these are generally suitable practised gently and with no breath holding. If you live with heart disease, high blood pressure, glaucoma or epilepsy, these are among the more suitable practices here; keep the breath easy and leave out any hold.
If you have asthma or COPD, keep the breath well within a comfortable range and ease off before it feels tight. If you are recovering from illness or surgery, follow the advice you were given about activity, and keep sessions short and lying down.
Stop if you feel dizzy, faint, breathless or unwell, and rest rather than continuing. Persistent fatigue, breathlessness that is new or worsening, or tiredness that does not lift with rest are matters for a doctor rather than a breath practice, and nothing here is a substitute for having them looked at.
See our full Health & Safety Disclaimer.
Common questions
Can breathwork help me recover from illness?
Not in any sense that could be demonstrated, and nothing here claims it. What these sessions offer is a quiet practice that is manageable on a low day.
Does breathing affect the immune system?
That would need clinical evidence and this app does not claim it. Take any product that does make that claim with considerable scepticism.
Are these safe when I am unwell?
They are gentle, and they are still an activity. Follow whatever advice you have been given about rest, keep sessions short, and stop if you feel worse rather than better.
How are these different from the sleep sessions?
These are for daytime rest and do not try to send you to sleep, and they have an ending that returns you to the room. The sleep collection has no ending at all.
Should I be doing something stronger?
Not while your reserves are low. The energizing collection is there when you are back on your feet, and it is a poor idea before then.
