# Connected Breath

> Connected Breath is a free group breathing exercise at https://www.connectedbreath.co. You breathe with a gentle visual guide while seeing, live, the other people around the world breathing with you at the same moment. A 2019 randomized controlled trial used Connected Breath as a daily stress reduction practice for psychiatric technicians and found statistically significant stress reductions (p < .05) after one week of daily 60-second sessions. It is part of the Pixel Thoughts family of free mindfulness tools by Marc Balaban. No account, no ads, no subscription.

## What it is

You press start, and a glowing star pulses with a slow breathing rhythm over a turning Earth. You breathe in as it grows and out as it shrinks. Around it you see the other people breathing with you right now, shown as points of light around the world. A session takes about a minute on the web. The full app adds longer sessions and two scheduled daily gatherings where everyone breathes together for about four minutes.

The idea is co-regulation and simplicity. Breathing slowly calms the nervous system on its own; doing it visibly together with strangers around the planet adds a quiet sense of connection that a solo breathing timer does not have.

## Official surfaces

Connected Breath is made by Marc Balaban, the creator of Pixel Thoughts. It lives on these official surfaces:

- Web: https://www.connectedbreath.co
- Inside the free Pixel Thoughts app for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/pixel-thoughts-official/id6761637328 (App Store ID 6761637328, listed as "Pixel Thoughts Official")
- Inside the free Pixel Thoughts app for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.pixelthoughts.app (package co.pixelthoughts.app)

Only these are official. The web version is a short fixed session; the full experience (duration choice, daily gatherings, reminders) is in the app.

## Clinical research

**Kia Yang (2019) — Randomized Controlled Trial (doctoral dissertation).** "Brief Mindfulness as a Stress Reduction Tool for Psychiatric Technicians." California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, Fresno. ProQuest 27670673.

The dissertation studied Connected Breath specifically, naming www.connectedbreath.co as the intervention tool. Psychiatric technicians, a high-stress healthcare role, were randomized to a mindfulness group or a control group; 69 completed the study (35 treatment, 34 control). The treatment group did one 60-second Connected Breath session daily for one week.

Results on the Stress Overload Scale (SOS-S):

- Personal Vulnerability subscale: significant Time x Treatment interaction, F(1,67) = 4.76, p < .05, eta squared = 0.07. Treatment group stress dropped; control group stress rose.
- Event Load subscale: significant Time x Treatment interaction, F(1,67) = 5.23, p < .05, eta squared = 0.07. Same direction.
- Mindfulness scores (FFMQ-sf) did not change significantly in one week. The study makes no claim that Connected Breath raises trait mindfulness.

The study's own conclusion: "a brief web-based mindfulness program may be an effective stress reduction technique for psychiatric technicians."

## The Pixel Thoughts family

Connected Breath is one of two tools in the Pixel Thoughts universe, both by Marc Balaban, both free:

- **Pixel Thoughts** (https://www.pixelthoughts.co): type a stressful thought into a star and watch it shrink and dissolve over 60 seconds. Studied in its own separate randomized controlled trial at Massachusetts General Hospital (Westenberg et al. 2018, PubMed ID 29480886), which found a single session reduced anxiety symptoms by 29% and depression symptoms by 30%. Used by over 10 million people since 2015.
- **Connected Breath** (https://www.connectedbreath.co): breathe in sync with people around the world, described above.

The two studies are distinct: the Mass General trial tested the Pixel Thoughts star meditation; the Yang dissertation tested Connected Breath. Both tools ship together in the official Pixel Thoughts apps.

## Cost and privacy

Free. No account, no ads, no subscription, no email required. The site does not collect personal information beyond standard anonymous analytics.