Wellness SaaS
Ars Respirandi
A breathing practice anchored to one objective daily measurement, with an AI coach that reads the user's own data.
Visit the live productA wellness product that has to prove something
Most breathing and meditation apps are a timer wrapped around a content library. Someone practices for three weeks, cannot tell whether anything changed, and stops. The product never measured the thing it claimed to improve, so it had nothing to show them.
Ars Respirandi is built the other way around. Practice is anchored to the Control Pause, a timed breath hold after a normal exhale, measured once a day. One objective marker gives the product something to plan against and something to report, and it gives the user a reason to come back that is not a streak counter.
From there the structure follows. The user picks one of five outcomes, lower anxiety, deeper sleep, less stress, easier breathing or sharper focus, and gets a protocol matched to it. A Nervous System Score tracks progress, with symptoms correlated against the measurement rather than counted on their own. The methods are named and attributable, Buteyko, coherent breathing, box breathing, 4-7-8 and HRV paced sessions, which is what lets the product be specific instead of mystical.
The category also carries an obligation most apps handle with a line in the terms. Breath hold work is genuinely contraindicated for several conditions. We used comfort measurements rather than maximum holds, and the contraindications are published on the page rather than buried, because a product that encourages people past their limit is giving advice it is not qualified to give.
How the practice is structured
Measure first
A timed breath hold after a normal exhale, measured once a day. It is free and needs no account, because the fastest way to show someone this is serious is to give them a number before asking for anything.
Match a protocol to an outcome
Five outcome tracks, each with its own method and session structure. The protocol follows the goal and the current measurement, not a generic beginner path.
Track what actually moves
A Nervous System Score, trend charts and symptom to measurement correlation. Real feedback rather than a streak, because a streak only measures whether someone opened the app.
Coach on the user's own data
An AI coach that reads the person's measurements, mood and history and keeps memory across sessions, so it asks what a coach would ask rather than answering like a general chat window.
Built with
For your product
What this says about how we work
A wellness product can be built to feel good or built to be defensible, and the second one is harder and slower. We chose it here, published the contraindications, and used the conservative measurement. If your product sits anywhere near health, money or children, that instinct is the one you want on the other side of the table.
Questions people ask
- What is the Control Pause?
- A timed breath hold after a normal exhale, measured once a day: a measure from the Buteyko method, used as a proxy for CO2 tolerance. It gives the product one objective marker to build a protocol around.
- Is it free?
- There is a permanent free tier with daily Control Pause measurement, core breathing methods, guided sessions and a daily mood journal. Premium is $6.99 a month or $49 a year with a seven day trial, and adds the full protocol library, unlimited coaching with memory and data export.
- Is it safe?
- It is designed to be, and the contraindications are published rather than hidden. Comfort measurements are used instead of maximum breath holds. Anyone with a listed condition should speak to a clinician first, and the product says so on the page rather than in the terms.
- Is this medical treatment?
- No. It is an educational wellness product and it states that plainly. It is not a substitute for therapy or medical care.
What we did on this one
- Backend development
- Frontend development
- Product design
More from Ars Respirandi
- arsrespirandi.comControl Pause test: free, 60 seconds, no accountThe daily measurement the whole product is built on, open to anyone without signing up.Read it
- arsrespirandi.comWhat your Control Pause score meansHow to measure it, what each range means, and how to raise it safely.Read it
- arsrespirandi.comFounder burnout and anxiety: what helpsA breathing protocol designed to survive a week in which everything changes.Read it
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