Description
The eSense Respiration biofeedback device is an innovative biofeedback breathing device designed to improve breathing awareness and control through real-time feedback. Ideal for stress management and relaxation, this advanced breathing exercise equipment enables users to monitor their breathing patterns and develop healthier, more balanced respiration habits. With guided breathing exercises and data-driven insights, the eSense Respiration device empowers users to cultivate calmness, reduce anxiety, and enhance overall well-being. It is an essential tool for optimizing their breathing for health and performance.
The Mindfield eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device is a small belt sensor that accurately measures and exercises your breathing with your smartphone or tablet (Android or Apple iOS). It improves your breathing pattern, duration, and depth, effectively reduces your stress level with breathing biofeedback training, and thus improves your health.
The eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device gives the user precise feedback about the current stress level in various forms, such as measurement curves and video and audio presentations.
This Respiration biofeedback home-use device measures breathing amplitude and frequency and, optionally with the eSense Pulse sensor, simultaneously, Heart rate variability. The eSense app belonging to the eSense is free of charge and allows the export of the collected measurement data as a CSV file or PDF report (e.g., via e-mail, Dropbox, or Google Drive).
Attention!
To run eSense Respiration, you need an eSense Skin Response! eSense Respiration is an additional product to eSense Skin Response. This offer is for the eSense Respiration only.
The Importance of Biofeedback Breathing Training and the Role of eSense Respiration Biofeedback home-use Device
The Connection Between Breathing and Mental State
Our state of mind is reflected in our breathing. We usually breathe quickly, irregularly, and flatly if pleased or tense. In everyday life, we rarely think of our breathing and breathe almost exclusively unconsciously. When chronic stress, pain, or other psychological or physical stresses disrupt our unconscious breathing patterns, they often cause discomfort and prolong stress. Positive and negative stress is reflected in this way.
Conversely, if we are relaxed, calm, or sleepy, our breathing is usually slow, even, and deep.
Breathing is unique in biofeedback because it can be consciously controlled, unlike other bodily functions. With breathing biofeedback training, you can improve your breathing patterns, reach deep relaxation, and significantly enhance your overall well-being. That’s why breathing is central to many relaxation techniques, such as autogenic training, yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation.
How Breathing Biofeedback Enhances Relaxation Techniques
Breathing biofeedback offers real-time feedback on your breathing pattern, depth, and frequency, helping you develop better breathing habits faster and more precisely. Focusing on feedback during breathing exercises prevents the common issue of losing concentration or letting thoughts drift away. For beginners, who often struggle to focus on their breath during meditation, breathing biofeedback simplifies the process and makes it easier to stay engaged.
Breathing biofeedback training involves monitoring your breath through visual and auditory cues such as changing bars, curves, music, tones, vibrations, and lights. This provides a new perspective on your breathing, enhances self-awareness, and creates a feedback cycle. With the targeted exercises available in the eSense app, you’ll learn to breathe more calmly, evenly, and deeply, which leads to a profound sense of relaxation and improved well-being.
After several training sessions, the biofeedback process helps you develop a new ability to focus entirely on your breathing and achieve relaxation without needing constant feedback. This improved self-awareness makes switching off and relaxing easier, even daily.
Example of eSense Respiration curve for tension or requirements and erratic, irregular, fast, and shallow breathing.
Sample measurement curve eSense Respiration at rest, with deep, slow, and even respiration (RA = Respiration Amplitude)
With the eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device, you have a powerful tool to modernize your breathing.
How it works
Measuring Breathing with eSense Respiration
The eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device measures two main breath indexes: the Respiration Amplitude (RA) and the breathing frequency (breaths per minute).
Respiration is measured according to the principle of strain measurement. With every breath, your chest and abdomen space will rise and fall, and the belt you put on over your clothes will stretch slightly. You can put the eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device’s Stretch Belt around the chest or the abdomen.
Abdominal breathing is measured and trained more frequently (see more details about diaphragmatic breathing here). The eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device has a spring that translates the belt’s pressure into readings. Its Sensor transmits these signals to your smartphone and tablet via microphone input. The eSense app evaluates these signals and displays them in a comprehensive form.
Interactive Feedback and Advanced Features of eSense Respiration
The eSense Respiration biofeedback device offers a variety of interactive feedback options to help you monitor and improve your breathing. These include:
- a video, which becomes brighter or sharper in the optimistic case (darker or blurred in the negative case),
- music, which volume changes, tones, which change in the sound,
- a vibration of the smartphone,
- and much more.
Of interest is the function of controlling a smart light bulb (Philips Hue or Magic Blue), whereby breathing is reflected in the change in color and brightness of one or more lamps. You can use your breathing to illuminate an entire room in different ways.
It can be used simultaneously with the eSense Pulse to train the coherence between breathing and heart rate variability (HRV).
The eSense app, which is free and included in the purchase price, is available to all eSense users. In addition to many functions, the app allows the collected measurement data to be exported as a CSV file and PDF report (e.g., via e-mail, Dropbox, or Google Drive).
Indication for use
The Benefits of Breathing Biofeedback with eSense Respiration
Breathing biofeedback with an eSense Respiration home-use device can be used universally for biofeedback training. In stress medicine and psychophysiology, respiratory biofeedback is used, for example, for depression, heart disease, asthma, anxiety disorders, and insomnia. Breathing biofeedback is also standard in coaching and competitive sports. Improving breathing patterns can help relieve tensions, cope with stress and anxiety, and help you react more calmly in everyday life.
eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device devoted to managing:
- stress and its vegetative symptoms
- depression
- attention and concentration problems
- anxiety disorders
- insomnia problems
- asthma and other bronchial tract and lung problems
- hyperventilation
- heart disease and hypertonia
- train abdominal breathing
- fast shallow breathing
- and many other conditions related to the insufficiency of relaxation skills
Our website’s “Articles” chapter contains posts about using breathing biofeedback in different health conditions.
How to Use eSense Respiration for Biofeedback Training
A biofeedback training session consists of four training phases. Plan 60 to 90 minutes for the first session, during which you can do the training coherently undisturbed.
A procedure consists of different modules. The methods can be used, for example, to implement instructions for relaxation, a stress test, defined biofeedback training session, or tasks for research purposes.
The possibilities are manifold. During a procedure, your breathing is naturally recorded. A summary is displayed at the end of the procedure, showing your readings for each module and the overall view.
The demo procedures included in the app give you a guided overview of the different modules and functions.
As a second option, you can also conduct open training. This is a bit more complex than the procedures. A typical open training session consists of four training phases.
- Preparation and start
- First Training Phase (observation and experimentation; determination of the actual state)
- Second Training Phase (targeted biofeedback training based on the measured values)
- Third Training Phase (provocation, relaxation, and stress management)
- Fourth Training Phase (transfer and relaxation without feedback)
A detailed explanation of the procedure can be found in the eSense Respiration Biofeedback Device Manual.
The eSense Respiration with the App offers you:
- A pressure sensor to record your breathing (breathing frequency, breathing depth, breathing pattern) (application always in connection with eSense skin response, as a sensor cable)
- A stretch belt that is comfortable to wear, washable, and durable
- Comfortable to wear over clothing
- Unlimited recording duration
- Unlimited number of sessions and users
- Extensive statistics for breath analysis
- Breathing aid for breathing training with freely adjustable intervals, auxiliary tones, and more
- Export of measurement data as a CSV file with compatibility with other software programs for further analysis
- Export curves, diagrams, and statistics as a PDF report
- Set any number of markers during a recording
- Different, prefabricated training procedures are included in the app
- Free training according to your wishes with any biofeedback variant or several at the same time
- Extensive in-app help and manuals
- Regular app updates
- Possible combination with the eSense Pulse for heart rate variability biofeedback with the determination of the coherence between heartbeat and respiration!
Quick Guide to Usage
- When you buy the eSense Respiration, you can download our free app from the App Store (Apple®) or Google Play (Android).
- Put on the chest strap as shown in the manual and adjust it to the correct length. The strap should be tight but not uncomfortably tight or squeezed.
- Start the app and click “Start,” and the measurements will begin.
- Please carefully read the instructions within the app to get the best out of biofeedback training.
- Have fun with the eSense Respiration!
eSense Mobile App
The eSense comes with the eSense app, which you can load for free in the Google Play Store (Android) or the Apple App Store (iOS). The app contains a variety of functions for effective biofeedback training in a modern design. Essential functions are displaying the measured values app as a bar graph, oscilloscope, and feedback by video, music, tones, vibration, and light via a Bluetooth smart bulb.
Account and Cloud (optional, no obligation)
You can register your account for the eSense app and book plans. With these, you can mainly use the cloud and its functions and access the eSense web app at https://esense.live.
With the basic plan, you can save your measurements locally and online in the cloud and thus access them from all devices and anywhere. You also get access to the eSense web app.
The Premium Plan includes all the functions of the Basis Plan. In addition to your measurements, you can save your procedures online in the cloud and thus access them from all devices. (Attention: Unfortunately, Apple’s technical limitations do not allow audio file upload (and synchronization). The synchronization of picture and video files is possible, however.)
You can also share your measurements with other users and transfer your data to the eSense Web App in real-time.
Which iOS Devices Does It Support?
- All iOS devices from version 12.5 or higher, which are (in part):
- Apple® iPhone® 5S, iPhone® 6 / 6S, iPhone® SE / SE 2, iPhone® 7/7 +, iPhone® 8/8 +, iPhone® X, iPhone® XR, iPhone® XS, iPhone® 11/11 Pro, iPhone® 12/12 Pro
- Apple® iPad® from the 5th generation (iPad Air) or newer, including all iPad Mini from the 2nd generation
- Apple® iPad® Pro from 1st generation or newer
- Apple® iPod Touch® from 6th generation or newer
Note: Some newer iOS devices without the classic 3.5mm headphone jack and the newer Lightning / USB-C connector also work perfectly with the eSense. You either need an original Apple USB-C or an original Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm connection adapter (not included in the scope of delivery of the eSense), or you can use any other adapter with a DAC chip.
Which Android Devices Does It Support?
- All Android Smartphones and Tablets from Android 7.0 (Nougat)
Your Android device requires a 3,5mm jack (headphone jack) for external microphones! You can use an adapter with a DAC chip for Android devices without a headphone jack. We recommend this adapter on Amazon. - If you plan on purchasing a device for the eSense app, we suggest the Nokia 2.4, Nokia G20, Motorola Moto E7i Power, or Xiaomi Redmi 9a as inexpensive entry-level devices.
Scope of delivery of the eSense Respiration biofeedback device
- Mindfield® eSense Respiration Sensor, including replacement spring
- Expansion strap
- eSense App from Mindfield (Apple App Store or Google Play Store)
- Detailed instructions for effective biofeedback training
If you already have an eSense Skin Response, you can purchase only the eSense Respiration biofeedback device.
The eSense Skin Response is available in a bundle with the eSense Respiration at a reduced price in the eSense Skin Response and Respiration bundle set (€ 229). With this set, you save 49 euros compared to buying both devices separately.
The eSense Skin Response and Respiration bundle biofeedback set consists of 2 eSense sensors: the eSense Respiration and the eSense Skin Response.
The eSense Respiration biofeedback home-use device requires the eSense Skin Response, which can function independently. This way, you receive two biofeedback devices in one set.
Scope of delivery of the eSense Skin Response and Respiration Set
- Mindfield® eSense Respiration Sensor, including replacement spring stretch belt
- Mindfield® eSense Skin Response Sensor
- 2 Velcro electrodes
- eSense App by Mindfield (Apple App Store or Google Play)
- detailed instructions for practical biofeedback training
