Life is so busy that it can be hard even to know where to start in making positive changes for your well-being. While many people turn to diet and exercise, an even simpler change can boost your mental health: breathing more effectively.

A second simple solution is to get a good night’s sleep. Breathonics seeks to address both elements within one app. Take a look at the innovative methods used by this iOS app and find out if it works as intended.

What Is Breathonics?

Breathonics is a mental fitness app available for iOS. Breathonics aims to teach you how to breathe to improve your well-being using electronic music and soundscapes.

It’s all based on the developers’ belief that you can do three core things to improve your mental health and wellness: breathwork, napping, and improving your quality of sleep. The principle is simple: the hierarchy of your body’s needs is that you need the right amount of sleep as the foundation of good health. If you can’t sleep, nap. And if you can’t nap, take a few breaths.

While there’s no disputing the importance of all three elements, you may not consider breathwork as a suitable, if lesser, alternative to a good night’s sleep. Still, if you’re looking for an app to help you with sleep and better breathing, Breathonics will provide you with both: a series of guided breathing exercises and sleep sound programs.

Download: Breathonics for iOS (Free, subscription available)

Getting Started With the Breathonics App

Breathonics speeds you through a simple set-up process. You’ll be asked to state how the app can help you to improve, with potential answers such as managing anxiety, increasing productivity, and learning to relax. Then you can set reminders for your breathing exercises and allow integration with Apple Health and your Apple Watch.

Following that, you’re taken straight to a sample title from the catalog. It’s much quicker and more streamlined than the initial processes from many similar apps.

When you get to the main Breathonics interface, you can either choose recommended sessions from your personalized Home screen or navigate to the Breathe or Rest sections of the app.

Breathwork Exercises on Breathonics

The Breath tab of Breathonics is where you’ll access the breathing exercises, which Breathonics calls “guided mental fitness workouts.” They’re categorized into two sections: Power Up and Power Down. Power Up contains up-tempo exercises, while Power Down aims to relax and calm your body and mind for sleep.

On the information screen preceding each routine, you can see a detailed breakdown of what’s included. Along with a short written introduction, you can see the duration, type of breathing practiced, frequencies used, and even the play count.

While there are some genuinely outstanding apps with breathing exercises for relaxation and mindfulness (for example, the stress-busting One Deep Breath breathwork app), Breathonics’ innovative approach may well attract you if you’re not a fan of the more traditional methods.

Each "workout" teaches breathing techniques via spoken instructions and animated displays, with accompanying music and audio frequencies to propel you. It’s all immaculately presented, with sleek, colorful graphics matched by brilliant-quality audio.

When using Apple AirPods Pro, you can benefit from Spatial Audio, immersing you in a soundscape that stimulates your mind, taking breathwork to a different level to the experience delivered by most breathing apps. Breathonics may appeal if you enjoy the way the modern meditation app Spoke combines music and voice to help you relax.

Rest and Sleep Using Breathonics

Navigate to the Rest section for “scientific soundscapes designed to help you relax.” Each of the soundscapes is labeled either Nap or Sleep. Nap soundscapes run for between 20 and 90 minutes and have titles such as Tropical Showers, Light Years, and Deep Dive. There are numerous ways to make power napping easier using your smartphone, and this is undoubtedly an effective aid.

Sleep soundscapes have a timer function, so you can specify how long you would like to leave the track running while you nod off. Like the Breathe section, each track is presented in superb high-definition spatial audio, and in practice this is incredibly effective in inducing deep relaxation.

Health Monitoring Using Breathonics

Apple Health is fully integrated with Breathonics, and from the first time you start the app, you’re invited to enable this function. It’s well worth doing so, as you’ll then be able to monitor your performance during breathing exercises using the live heart rate readings from your Apple Watch.

Of course, there are many great sleep apps for tracking and improving your sleep. However, if you track your sleep patterns using Apple Health via Breathonics, the data will help the app to inform future personalized breathwork and sleep session recommendations.

Finally, those who like an element of challenge can find the motivation to keep up their efforts by earning a series of achievement badges.

How Useful Is Breathonics for Your Well-Being?

With so many good breathwork exercise apps on the market, the developers at Breathonics have worked hard to present an innovative angle. And with these science-backed, music-powered programs, they have hit on a successful formula.

Not only does Breathonics encourage more people to practice breathing correctly with all the accompanying health benefits, but it also promotes and provides the tools you’ll need for better quality sleep.

Overall, it’s an impressive app, and with a significant amount of content available for free, you can get an excellent idea of the Breathonics approach without needing to subscribe to the premium edition. However, subscribing will unlock all content, allow you to track your history, and enable live heart rate data.

Improve Your Breathing and Sleep Quality

The quality of both breathing and sleep is essential to everyone’s well-being. Yet even when you’re taking the time to ensure you eat healthily and exercise regularly, it’s all too easy to neglect these equally important factors. The Breathonics app supplies valuable tools to help you with self-care in both areas.