Exercises Playing with the flow
Koi Pond
How does it help?
Two koi flow with the rhythm of your breath: they drift apart as you breathe in and come together as you breathe out. Watching them gives your breath a gentle guide. The pace is 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out: 6 breaths a minute. The exhale is longer than the inhale, so your body slows down. When you touch the water, ripples spread and the koi come to you. Every spot you touch plays a note: lower near the centre, higher towards the edge. The notes come from a scale that always sounds in harmony, so wherever you touch, they fit together; you make your own koi music. The notes come from a pentatonic scale tuned to 432 Hz: 385, 432, 514, 577, 647 and 770 Hz; the singing-bowl tone that follows your breath is 216 Hz.
On screen
Before you start, you choose your fish: Origami (at sunset), Soft (at sunrise) or Glowing (at night). The light in the middle of the pond grows and shrinks with your breath: it widens as you breathe in and gathers as you breathe out, and the koi drift apart and come together with it.
About koi and balance
The two koi circling each other are inspired by the yin and yang symbol of Taoism: two opposite forces flow into each other and together make a whole. Breathing in and out complete each other in the same way.
The Taoist idea of "wu wei" means moving with the flow without forcing; here, too, you follow the koi without forcing your breath. In Eastern cultures, the koi is a symbol of patience and transformation.
Safety
Don't force your breath; if you feel dizzy or short of breath, stop and breathe normally.
Research and sources
Where does it come from?
What does research say?
In a study at the UK's National Marine Aquarium, watching fish slowed heart rate and lifted mood, and the effect grew with the number of fish. A review of 19 studies also found that interacting with fish is good for mood; it included fish on screens too. Breathing at 6 breaths a minute also lowers stress and anxiety.
Sources
- Cracknell D, White MP, Pahl S, Nichols WJ, Depledge MH. Marine biota and psychological well-being: a preliminary examination of dose-response effects in an aquarium setting. Environment and Behavior, 2016.
ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/27437 - Clements H, Valentin S, Jenkins N, et al. The effects of interacting with fish in aquariums on human health and well-being: a systematic review. PLoS ONE, 2019.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6663029/ - Goessl VC, Curtiss JE, Hofmann SG. The effect of heart rate variability biofeedback training on stress and anxiety: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 2017.
doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717001003