alt.hn

5/30/2026 at 8:30:53 PM

Show HN: Breathe CLI – Paced resonance breathing in the macOS terminal

 https://github.com/marekkowalczyk/breathe-cli

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 2:30:11 PM

37 days into quitting smoking and breathing exercises have been a huge help for the craving spikes. a simple terminal tool for paced breathing actually makes a lot of sense - when the craving hits at 3pm and youre staring at a screen anyway, having it right there in the terminal is way less friction than pulling out a phone app. starred.

by samrivera

5/31/2026 at 7:14:47 PM

I've never thought of this kind of a use case but I'm happy you see some value in trying out `breathe`. I'm curious of your feedback after you've worked with it for some time.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 5:08:23 PM

I've long wondered if a big unsung part of smoking is the way it gets normally high-strung, fast moving and shallow breathers to slow down and inhale deeply for 3-5 mins at a time. They might not get that kind of air any other way

by Obscurity4340

5/31/2026 at 7:34:06 PM

In psychology there's the concept of Secondary Benefits — a behavior harmuful on the surface always has a Positive Intention behind it — otherwise an individual would not engage in it.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 7:02:54 PM

Very cool project. Is this similar to the Apple Watch ‘mindful minutes’ breathing feature? I assume it’s based on the same research as is cited in this project’s repo?

by thoughtpeddler

5/31/2026 at 7:13:14 PM

Thank you for your appreciation. I don't have an Apple Watch so it's hard to say. There isn't a ton of research on the subject — no Big Pharma sponsorship money in a breathing technique that you can't patent — so I suspect it's the same research.

Give the app a try and share your feedback. Happy Breathing :)

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 12:24:08 PM

This is cool, I have SVT and usually am able to stop an episode if I do slow breathing like that; although sometimes if that doesn’t work the modified reverse valsalva manoeuvre does it every time.

by mpeg

5/31/2026 at 7:35:25 PM

I'm wondering if the protocols that I have included with the app could be helpful in your situation. I'm curious of your feedback on the app.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 10:51:23 AM

Looks interesting. And it's pure Python with no 3p packages. Pretty trivial to support other OSes: make that audio player invocation configurable.

by skeledrew

5/31/2026 at 7:16:40 PM

Thank you for noticing. Yes, I will include other OSes in a future version; I just wanted to release ASAP after squashing some weird bugs.

Give it a try and share your feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 9:07:21 AM

Very nice. I have no heart issues but have been experimenting with extended breathing/longer exhales to calm down my sympathetic nervous system. I believe intentional breathing is a big, mostly underutilized tool all of us have to be generally more relaxed and healthier and also to calm ourselves down in stressful situations

by iammjm

5/31/2026 at 7:36:10 PM

Good point. I can't see a reason not to regulate your nervous system. Give the app a try and share your feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 4:57:05 PM

Not every project needs agents, workflows, and LLM integrations. Sometimes a focused tool is exactly what's needed.

by ahmazroot

5/31/2026 at 7:18:13 PM

Exactly that kind of thinking was my idea for the app. A UNIX-like approach to solving a personal problem for the market of one :)

I'm tired of accounts and subscriptions. Give it a try and share your feedback!

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 9:24:52 AM

This reminds me of another HRV training from few years back shared here.

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37538028

- https://github.com/kieranabrennan/every-breath-you-take

by darcien

5/31/2026 at 5:49:04 PM

I've been running this a bit with a Polar chest strap heart monitor. I'm thinking about forking it to add some audio cues so that I can have it running in the background while I work and try to keep my heart variability up. I find that I tense up when I'm intent on the work which leads to a lot of problems. I'm hoping having something like this app that uses audio cues for breathing but only comes on when my heart variability drops into the red could get me into a continuous state of low sympathetic nervous system activation while working, which is very much not the norm for me for historical reasons.

The author of this tool eventually created a heart rate monitoring hardware product and an app to go with it to do HRV training. I think `every-breath-you-take` may have been an early prototype that he generously open sourced(?)

by spieden

5/31/2026 at 7:32:10 PM

What you're referring to reminds me of the concept of Biofeedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 7:30:29 PM

Indeed related! I don't have a Polar but the app looks nice; starred for future review / inspiration. Thank you.

Try `breathe` and share your feedback!

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 12:58:02 PM

I love the zero dependency implementation. I do this style of breathing during specific time periods of practicing Qi Gong. I will try your script when I get to my laptop. Thanks.

by mark_l_watson

5/31/2026 at 7:19:10 PM

Thank you for noticing my effort. Do give it a try and please report your experience. I'm open to feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 12:29:34 PM

Nice work on the zero-dependency approach. I'm building a similar tool for Windows (voice-to-text) and the "no account, just run" philosophy resonates — friction kills daily habits.

by Ruslan1095

5/31/2026 at 7:28:09 PM

Looking at your comment and at other comments as well I think this approach is the new black, deservedly (is that even a word?). Try the app and share your feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 3:48:44 PM

does it have modes for Hamon or Total Concentration breathing?

by glaslong

5/31/2026 at 7:26:39 PM

Not at this point. I developed it with the Market of One in mind — for myself. But I'm open to requests that will broaden the scope of modes for other users. I just don't want to invest time into speculative development. Try the app as-is and share your feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 8:02:26 AM

Terminally breathing

by chrisvenum

5/31/2026 at 7:25:07 PM

Hah! Nice catch. I should have thought of this name myself.

Try the app and share your feedback.

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 4:39:06 PM

wow this repo is peaceful

by yong076

5/31/2026 at 7:25:21 PM

What do you mean?

by marekkowalczyk

5/31/2026 at 7:42:39 PM

[flagged]

by BlueBerry2001

5/31/2026 at 1:02:30 PM

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by fulafel

5/31/2026 at 2:07:02 PM

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by edgardurand

5/31/2026 at 1:38:19 PM

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by michaelmjh

5/31/2026 at 10:43:27 AM

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by plexescor

5/31/2026 at 8:04:00 AM

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by georgefloid

5/31/2026 at 9:05:55 AM

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by bakrisolo

5/31/2026 at 9:20:19 AM

AI slop comment

by arionmiles