Nerva: Breathing Exercises

About

Feel calmer in five minutes. Guided breathing exercises and nine ambient sounds for sleep, focus, and balance. Nerva is a calm, science-informed breathing app for iOS. A curated library of essential practices, each guided by a single breathing orb on a quiet canvas. Visual rhythm to follow, calm by default, with everything included from the first breath. Grounded in peer-reviewed research on breathwork — including cyclic sighing, the 4-7-8 protocol, and coherent breathing — Nerva turns studied techniques into something you can actually use: when you want to sleep, when you want to settle, when you want to focus, when you want to come back to yourself. — EIGHT TECHNIQUES — • Box Breathing (Sama Vritti) — Equal four-count rhythm. A steady practice many people reach for to regulate stress. • 4-7-8 Breathing — Extended exhale technique. Many people find it helpful for winding down before sleep. • Cyclic Sighing — Two short inhales, one long exhale. Studied for mood and stress. Many people find it calming within a few minutes. • Coherent Breathing — Six in, six out. A gentle rhythm studied for supporting heart-rate balance. • Nadi Shodhana — Alternate-nostril breathing. A traditional pranayama practice for settling the mind. • Bhastrika — Bellows breath. Many people feel more alert after a few cycles. • Kapalabhati — Sharp exhales many people use to clear mental fatigue. • 2-to-1 Breathing — Exhale twice as long as you inhale. Many find this rhythm supportive for relaxation. — NINE SOUNDS — Rain, Ocean, Forest, Stream, Fire, Night, Bowls, Wind and Noise. Ambient recordings and synthesized tones for listening on their own. Press play, set the phone down, and let one run for up to ninety minutes. Pause and resume from the lock screen. — THE DESIGN — A single orb on a calm canvas, expanding and contracting with your breath. Let your attention rest in one quiet place — visual rhythm to follow. Gentle chime cues you can turn on, and haptic taps at each phase boundary when you want them. Made for the moments you actually use it, not for scrolling. — PRIVACY-FIRST — Everything stays on your device. No account required. Your personal data stays on your phone. No advertising. Anonymous usage analytics only, used to improve the app — never shared with third parties, never linked to your identity. — SAFETY-AWARE — A short onboarding asks about pregnancy, heart conditions, seizures, asthma, and recent abdominal surgery. Intense techniques (Bhastrika, Kapalabhati, 4-7-8) stay tucked away if any apply, so your library shows what suits you. Your answers stay on this device. — REQUIREMENTS — • iOS 17 or later • iPhone and iPad Designed in Lisbon by byAlif — an indie studio building quiet, well-made apps. Not a medical device. Not medical advice. Consult a qualified clinician before using breathwork if you have a health condition. Privacy: https://nerva.byalif.app/privacy.html Terms: https://nerva.byalif.app/terms.html Come back to yourself, one breath at a time.