Fifteen minutes of paced breathing represents a therapeutic-grade session — the duration used in most clinical studies on breathwork for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and chronic pain. At this length, the body moves beyond surface-level regulation into deep autonomic reset: cortisol drops substantially, vagal tone increases significantly, and brainwave patterns shift toward the alpha and theta ranges associated with deep relaxation and healing.
The 15-minute session is ideal for dedicated practice rather than quick workplace resets. Use it as a morning ritual, evening wind-down, or standalone wellness practice. Many practitioners find that 15 minutes produces effects qualitatively different from shorter sessions — not just more of the same, but a deeper level of calm and clarity that shorter sessions do not access.
For therapeutic applications (anxiety management, pain reduction, trauma recovery), 15 minutes is the minimum recommended session length. The first 5 minutes calm the surface-level sympathetic activation. Minutes 5-10 deepen into parasympathetic dominance. Minutes 10-15 access the deepest restorative states where the most profound healing and regulation occur.