Breathing
A breathing widget for Notion — pick a calm, focus, or sleep rhythm and follow the gentle animation.
About this widget
The Olivtwig Breathing widget guides your breath with a calm, gentle animation you can embed in Notion. Pick one of three rhythms by goal: Calm uses coherence (resonance) breathing — an even 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out; Focus uses box breathing — 4-4-4-4; and Sleep uses the 4-7-8 pattern. A flat circle grows as you breathe in and settles as you breathe out, while a dot travels the ring to mark the cycle. It runs entirely in the browser — no signup, no install, nothing stored — so keep it on a focus dashboard, a journal page, or a study template for a quick reset.
Which pattern should I use?
Calm (coherence or resonance breathing) keeps the inhale and exhale the same length — about 5 seconds each, with no breath-holding — at roughly six breaths per minute. It's the gentlest option and the easiest to sustain, which is why it's a common everyday default for steadying the nervous system.
Focus (box breathing, 4-4-4-4) adds equal holds after each breath; the even, four-part rhythm is used to steady attention before focused work. Sleep (4-7-8) uses a short inhale, a long hold, and an even longer exhale — the extended out-breath leans into the calming, wind-down response, which is why it's popular before bed.
How to use the widget
Choose Calm, Focus, or Sleep with the control below the circle. When the circle expands, breathe in; when it holds at full or small size, hold; when it shrinks, breathe out. The label in the center names the current phase and the dot on the ring shows your progress through the cycle.
There's nothing else to set up — the cycle runs continuously, so you can glance at it for a single round or follow along for several minutes.
Embedding in Notion
Copy the widget URL and paste it into a Notion page with the /embed command, then resize the block to fit your layout. To pin a specific rhythm, add ?pattern=calm, ?pattern=focus, or ?pattern=sleep to the URL. The widget is theme-aware too: add ?theme=dark or ?theme=light, or leave it to follow the reader's system preference.
It renders inside Notion on web, desktop, and mobile, and stores no data — the animation is generated live each time the page loads.
Use cases
Focus resets
Take one round between tasks to clear your head before the next block of deep work.
Calm before meetings
A quiet minute of breathing on your dashboard before a call or presentation.
Wind-down for sleep
Switch to the 4-7-8 pattern in an evening or journal template to help you settle before bed.
Study breaks
Pair it with a Pomodoro timer — breathe through the break, then start the next session.
How to embed in Notion
- 01
Type /embed in Notion
Open any Notion page, type /embed, and select the Embed block from the menu.
- 02
Paste the widget URL
Copy the URL from any widget page and paste it into the embed dialog.
- 03
Widget appears instantly
The widget is now live in your Notion page. Resize it by dragging the edges.
Frequently asked questions
Which breathing patterns are included?
Three, chosen by goal: Calm is coherence (resonance) breathing at 5 seconds in and 5 out; Focus is box breathing (4-4-4-4); and Sleep is the 4-7-8 pattern (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8).
Which one is most recommended?
It depends on your goal. Coherence breathing (Calm) is the gentlest and easiest to sustain, so it's a good everyday default. Box breathing (Focus) helps steady attention, and 4-7-8 (Sleep) leans into winding down before bed.
Do I need to sign up or install anything?
No. The widget runs entirely in your browser. There's no account, no extension, and nothing is saved.
Does it work on mobile Notion?
Yes. It renders in Notion on web, desktop, and iOS/Android, and resizes itself to fit the embed.
Can I set a default pattern or theme?
Yes. Add ?pattern=calm, ?pattern=focus, or ?pattern=sleep to the embed URL to pin a rhythm, and ?theme=dark or ?theme=light to pin the theme. Otherwise it opens on Calm and follows the reader's system theme.