For Doctors

A research summary for clinicians reviewing BellyGOAT with a patient

This page is for information only. It is not medical advice. BellyGOAT is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure, or monitor any condition.

What the app is

BellyGOAT is a consumer app for adults who want to practice diaphragmatic (belly) breathing. Its practice plan is modeled on patient guidance from the Cleveland Clinic and the VA: learn the technique lying down, move to sitting as it gets easier, and practice regularly until the pattern feels natural. We did not invent diaphragmatic breathing; we built an app to help people practice it.

What it asks of your patient

• The pattern: smooth, continuous belly breathing at 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out (7.5 breaths per minute), with no breath holds. This exact count is the app's design choice. Neither the Cleveland Clinic nor the VA prescribes it; the VA guide uses other counts (such as 2 in, 3 out, or 3 in, 4 out) and some techniques with a pause.
• Practice: guided sessions of 3 to 10 minutes, one to three times a day depending on level. For comparison, the Cleveland Clinic suggests 5 to 10 minutes about three to four times a day at first, and the VA guide suggests 5 to 10 minutes twice daily.
• Positions: starts lying down, then sitting, as both sources describe. Later levels add standing and everyday activities; that step is the app's own extension, not something either source specifies.
• Check-ins: optional reminders through the day to notice the breath.
• Progress: the app presents change as gradual, over weeks to months, and moves the user up a level based on their own practice. It never moves anyone down. These are product choices, not timelines taken from the sources.

Safety built in

• A safety reminder is shown and spoken before every session and cannot be turned off: the practice should feel easy; if the user feels lightheaded, they stop and breathe normally; if it keeps happening, they talk to their doctor before continuing.
• Onboarding tells users with an existing breathing or heart condition to talk to their doctor before starting, and links to this page.

Sources

These are the published sources we used as background on diaphragmatic and slow breathing. None of them studied BellyGOAT, and listing a source here does not mean the app produces the effects that source reports.

1. Cleveland Clinic. Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises & Benefits.
2. VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, Whole Health Library. The Power of Breath: Diaphragmatic Breathing (PDF).
3. Hamasaki H. Effects of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Health: A Narrative Review. Medicines. 2020.
4. Ma X, et al. The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017.
5. Chaitanya S, et al. Effect of Resonance Breathing on Heart Rate Variability and Cognitive Functions in Young Adults: A Randomised Controlled Study. Cureus. 2022.
6. Harvard Health Publishing. Breathing exercises to lower your blood pressure.
7. Herawati I, et al. Breathing exercise for hypertensive patients: A scoping review. Frontiers in Physiology. 2023.
8. Vidotto LS, et al. Dysfunctional breathing: what do we know? Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia. 2019.

Questions

Clinicians can reach us at hello@nanogoat.io.