ANIMA: Breathwork & Pranayama

Most breathing apps give you one pattern and a circle. ANIMA gives you forty-one practices, grouped by what they actually do to your body - and a phone that can watch you breathe them.

FORTY-ONE PRACTICES, TEN FAMILIES
Slow & Extended Exhale, Equal & Steadying, Nostril Work, Sound & Vibration, Cooling, Activating & Rapid, CO₂ Tolerance & Retention, HRV Resonance, multi-stage Systems and Structural work. Grouped by mechanism rather than mood, because a long exhale and a rapid pump are both sold as "good for stress" and do close to opposite things.

CLASSICAL PRANAYAMA, PROPERLY NAMED
Nadi Shodhana and Nadi Shodhana with retention, Surya Bhedana, Chandra Bhedana, Bhramari, Ujjayi, Sitali, Sitkari, Lion's Breath, Kapalabhati, Bhastrika, Viloma, Dirga, Classical 1:4:2 and Nabho Mudra - alongside modern work such as cyclic sighing, box breathing, 4-7-8, tactical reset and sleep descent.

YOUR PHONE CAN SENSE THE BREATH
Three inputs, no extra hardware and no account. Rest the phone flat on your chest and the accelerometer follows its rise and fall. Or let the microphone listen for airflow. Or simply tap at each turn of the breath. ANIMA reads that oscillation into an estimated breathing rhythm and a session signature you can look back on. It observes movement or sound - it is not a heart-rate monitor and it does not measure HRV.

RESONANCE, WITHOUT GUESSWORK
Find Your Resonance walks several slow paces and helps you notice which one settles you, then Resonance Training keeps that pace. Quick Coherence is there for the short version.

RETENTION AND CO₂ WORK, WITH STRUCTURE
Control Pause (BOLT) with a saved reading history, Light Breathing, Nasal Unblocking, CO₂ and O₂ tables, and High Ventilation with retention. Each one carries its own contraindications and stopping conditions, and every table is dry-land practice only.

EVERY PRACTICE EXPLAINS ITSELF
How to do it, why it works, an honest evidence label, and a caveat where one belongs. Some practices are marked traditional rather than studied - ANIMA says so instead of dressing everything as science.

TWO WORLDS, ONE PRACTICE
Switch between a moonlit horizon and a nebula. Optional voice, soft haptics at the phase turns, and a search that understands both outcomes and technique names.

Sessions, minutes, streak, signatures and BOLT history stay on the device. Nothing is recorded, uploaded or sent anywhere. It all works offline.

A NOTE ON SAFETY
ANIMA is a practice tool, not a medical device, and it does not diagnose, treat or prevent anything. What it senses is movement or sound, not a clinical measurement. Sit or lie down - never while driving, and never in or near water. Slow breathing should feel easier, not harder. Stop on dizziness, tingling, visual disturbance or chest discomfort. The rapid and retention practices carry real contraindications, and each one states its own. If you are pregnant, or manage a heart, lung, blood-pressure, epilepsy or panic condition, check before starting.

Open the library, choose a mechanism, and find out what your breath is actually doing.