Is Loam meditation app free?

Yes. Loam is free to download and free to start. Core tools like breathing exercises, journaling, daily check-ins, and streak tracking are always available at no cost. Premium unlocks the full guided session library, unlimited custom Moments, and advanced features.

What makes Loam different from Calm or Headspace?

Loam composes every session around how you feel right now — the voice, the pace, and the therapeutic approach all adapt in real time. Instead of a catalog of pre-recorded tracks, Loam generates a new meditation tailored to your current emotional state, calibrated to your experience level, and grounded in peer-reviewed research. It also ships with Sage, a wellness coach trained in Motivational Interviewing, and 15 breathing exercises with haptic-synced animations.

Is Loam safe to use alongside therapy or medication?

Yes. Loam is designed with clear clinical guardrails. Sessions never claim to diagnose or treat mental illness, never tell you to stop therapy or medication, and always defer to professional care for symptoms that warrant it. Content is constrained to evidence-based techniques (ACT, self-compassion, MBSR, somatic experiencing, CBT-I) and a carefully reviewed voice and pacing library. Meditation is a complement to care, not a replacement. If you're in crisis, please contact a local crisis line or your care provider.

What research is Loam based on?

Every therapeutic technique in Loam cites primary peer-reviewed research. Loam's breathing library is grounded in work by Balban et al. (Stanford, 2023), Zaccaro et al. (2018), and Lehrer & Gevirtz (2014). The Moment's therapeutic architecture draws on polyvagal theory (Porges), ACT (Hayes), self-compassion (Neff), MBSR (Kabat-Zinn), and somatic experiencing (Levine). A full citation library is available at /research.

Who are the voices in Loam?

Loam uses 13 research-selected voices. Each voice is chosen for the emotional state it handles best, based on polyvagal theory, ASMR research, and voice psychology — low resonant voices for grounding, warm bright voices for light moods, measured voices for heavy ones. Loam automatically picks the voice the research says will work for your current state, or you can override manually.

Does Loam work offline?

Core tools work offline, including downloaded meditations, breathing exercises, and the journal. The Moment — Loam's custom meditation composer — requires an internet connection at the moment of generation, because the session is composed on the fly. Once generated, every Moment is saved to your library and can be replayed offline without using any credits.

Does Loam have sleep stories?

Yes. Loam includes narrated sleep stories, sleep soundscapes, and wind-down rituals. The sleep content uses anti-storytelling techniques — structured to prevent the mind from latching on to narrative — based on CBT-I stimulus control research (Bootzin & Epstein, 2011).

What breathing exercises does Loam offer?

Loam offers 15 breathing techniques across beginner, intermediate, and advanced tiers, including Box Breathing (4-4-4-4), 4-7-8 Relaxation, the Physiological Sigh, Coherent (Resonance) Breathing at 5.5-5.5, Alternate Nostril, Ujjayi, Kapalbhati, and the Wim Hof method. Every technique links to the peer-reviewed research that validates it, so you can read the study if you want to.

Will I lose my streak if I miss a day?

No. Loam's streak system is explicitly wellness-first: streaks pause, they don't break. You get two streak freezes, you can mark rest days, and the app never shames you for missing a session. Anxious users are especially vulnerable to streak mechanics turning self-care into another source of pressure — Loam is designed to avoid that failure mode.

BREATHING · 4-4-8

Every claim cited · Every technique peer-reviewed

Deep Rest Breath (4-4-8)

Name: Loam
Availability: InStock
Author: Loam

Deep Rest Breath uses a 4-second inhale, 4-second hold, 8-second exhale. The 2:1 exhale-to-inhale ratio maximizes parasympathetic activation. Easier to sustain than 4-7-8, making it a better choice for longer wind-downs before sleep.

Updated April 2026·5 min read

How to do it

Lie down. Lie on your back or curl on your side. Keep one hand on your belly if that helps you notice the movement.
Inhale 4. Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds.
Hold 4. Hold gently for 4 seconds — no strain.
Exhale 8. Exhale through the nose or pursed lips for 8 seconds. This is the critical phase.
Continue for 10 minutes. Ten minutes is a reasonable pre-sleep dose. Stop if you fall asleep.

Why a 2:1 ratio, not 2.25:1

4-7-8 is the most famous sleep breathing pattern, but the 7-second hold is uncomfortable for many people when repeated for 10+ minutes. The 4-4-8 pattern preserves the core mechanism (exhale twice as long as inhale) with a shorter hold that is sustainable for a longer practice. Use 4-7-8 for 3 minutes to fall asleep fast; use Deep Rest Breath for a longer wind-down.

What the research says

The evidence base for Deep Rest Breath (4-4-8) rests on:

When to use it

Last 10 minutes before sleep
Pre-nap
When 4-7-8 feels too intense to sustain

Try it in the Loam app

Deep Rest Breath (4-4-8) is included in Loam's breathing library with an animated breath visualizer, optional haptic cues at every phase transition, and configurable durations. Download Loam to practice it.

Related techniques

Back to the full breathing library, or try: 4-7-8, resonance, Calming Breath (4-6).

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