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Apple Just Introduced a Breathing App. Here s Why That s Brilliant

Alex Fitzpatrick @alexjamesfitz

June 13, 2016

It may sound silly, but it could be very helpful

Apple has a message for you: Remember to breathe. Later this year, the

Cupertino, Calif. company is adding a new app to its Apple Watch that walks

users through short, deep-breathing programs. The app, appropriately, is called

Breathe.

Wait, what? Who needs an app to remind us to inhale oxygen? Isn t this as silly

as those apps that remind you to drink water when you re thirsty?

Not at all. Medical experts have long maintained that deep-breathing exercises

can provide a wide range of health benefits, from stress relief to

cardiovascular improvements. (During Apple s presentation, the company used a

quote from Deepak Chopra, who has had many of his health claims called into

question.)

I know this from experience. Early in my senior year of college, I experienced

my first real bout of anxiety. It struck suddenly so quickly that I thought I

was having a heart attack and refused to fade. Worst of all, there was no clear

cause. It was generalized anxiety, the sort of thing that probably afflicts

lots of students about to leave the soft, cushy bubble of campus life for the

first time.

For months, I would wake up every day, enjoy a few blissful moments of

normality, then my heart rate would skyrocket. I felt a bit like Bruce Banner,

though I never turned into a hulking green monster. (The experience taught me

that Banner s superpower isn t turning into the Hulk; it s staying Banner.) I

did my best to go about my day before coming home and trying to calm myself

down for a few hours of rest. There were many sleepless nights.

Only three things helped. First, I took full advantage of my university s

mental health professionals, and thank god for them. Second, I started running,

because I figured if my mind was racing, my body might as well too. But what

was most helpful turned out to be the deep-breathing exercises recommended by

one of my professors. It sounds unbelievable that taking a few minutes every

now and then to stop what I was doing to focus on taking nice, big breaths

helped lift me out of a mental health crisis. But with time, it did.

Anxiety is far less of a problem in my life these days, mostly because I m

proactive about controlling it. But when I feel it coming on, deep breathing is

my primary weapon against it. Often I use apps like Headspace or sites like

Calm.com to guide my sessions. But now that I ll have a breathing coach right

on my wrist, it ll make me that less anxious about, well, anxiety.

If Apple s app takes off, it could make many of its users lives much

healthier.