> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://meetdonna.xyz/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Settling down: breathing and grounding when you're wound up

> The two kinds of exercise Donna can guide, how it picks between them, and the visual that keeps the pace so you don't count in your head.

When you are wound up, spiraling, or cannot think straight, Donna can guide you through a short exercise to settle your body: a breathing pattern or a sensory grounding exercise, paced by a calm visual. Start one anytime from the wind glyph in the top-right corner of the window, or from the menu glyph in the bottom bar on a phone. Donna also offers one on its own when it senses you are running hot. When it does, it sets the to-do aside and helps you settle first, since a wound-up brain cannot start a task.

## Two kinds of exercise

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Breathing" icon="wind">
    A guided breath with a visual that expands and settles in time with you. The pace is built into the visual, so the words on screen and the motion always match. Patterns range from a simple longer exhale to box breathing, 4-7-8, a physiological sigh (two quick inhales, one long exhale) for an acute spike, or slow coherent breathing for a longer settle.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sensory grounding" icon="hand">
    For when you are too activated to follow a breath. The classic is 5-4-3-2-1: Donna walks you down through five things you can see, four you can hear, and so on, until you are back in the room.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Donna picks the one that fits the moment

You do not have to know which exercise you need. Donna reads how activated you are and chooses:

* **A sharp spike** gets the fastest thing: a physiological sigh, or 5-4-3-2-1 if breathing feels like too much.
* **Rough but not acute** gets a slower breath, like an extended exhale or box breathing.
* **A hard day** gets the simplest option, or just a calming line and no visual at all.
* **Running low and flat** usually gets no breathing exercise. Speeding up your breath is the wrong move when you are already empty, so Donna shifts to a slower pace and offers permission to stop instead.

If what set you off is a pile of things that all feel equally urgent, the guide on [too much to do and frozen](/docs/guides/overwhelmed) covers what to do once you have settled: get the pile out of your head and shrink it to one move.

## Starting and stopping

You start the exercise and you stop it.

* It does not loop or run on its own.
* It respects your reduced-motion setting if you have one turned on.
* Run one round or ten. Stopping early does not affect anything.

<Note>
  Donna does not count your breathing or turn it into a streak. There is no tally and no reminder to do it more often.
</Note>

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How does Donna pick which exercise fits the moment?">
    Donna reads how activated you are and picks: a physiological sigh or 5-4-3-2-1 grounding for a sharp spike, a slower breath like an extended exhale or box breathing when it is rough but not acute, and the simplest option on a hard day, sometimes just a calming line with no visual. See "Donna picks the one that fits the moment" above.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if focusing on my breath makes me feel worse?">
    Then Donna does not put you on your breath. If you are too activated to track one, it reaches for sensory grounding instead: the 5-4-3-2-1 sequence that walks you down through five things you can see, four you can hear, and so on until you are back in the room. If you are running low and flat rather than wound up, Donna usually offers no breathing exercise at all, since speeding up your breath is the wrong move when you are already empty.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does the breathing visual keep me on pace?">
    The visual expands and settles at the pace of the breath, so you do not have to count in your head. Donna does not state seconds or count out loud, and the visual respects your reduced-motion setting if you have one turned on.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I start a grounding exercise with Donna?">
    Two ways. Open one yourself: the wind glyph in the top-right corner opens a panel that asks where you are at, and one tap on a felt state starts the cadence that matches it. On a phone, the menu glyph in the bottom bar has a **Breathing** row that asks the same question, with the same felt states, and the one you pick renders right in the feed. Or Donna offers one on its own when it senses you are running hot, setting the to-do aside to help you settle first. Either way, you start it and you stop it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Donna track how often I use the breathing exercises?">
    No. Donna does not count your breathing or turn it into a streak, and there is no tally or reminder to do it more often. It is a tool for a hard moment.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Card title="When the day is rough" icon="cloud-rain" href="/docs/daily/bad-days">
  How everything shrinks and softens on the hard days.
</Card>

<Card title="Go deeper: When it's all too much" icon="wind" href="/docs/guides/overwhelmed">
  Getting it out of your head and back to one thing when everything hits at once.
</Card>

<script
  type="application/ld+json"
  dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: `{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
  "@type": "Question",
  "name": "How does Donna pick which exercise fits the moment?",
  "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Donna reads how activated you are and picks: a physiological sigh or 5-4-3-2-1 grounding for a sharp spike, a slower breath like an extended exhale or box breathing when it is rough but not acute, and the simplest option on a hard day, sometimes just a calming line with no visual."
  }
},
{
  "@type": "Question",
  "name": "What if focusing on my breath makes me feel worse?",
  "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Then Donna does not put you on your breath. If you are too activated to track one, it reaches for sensory grounding instead: the 5-4-3-2-1 sequence that walks you down through five things you can see, four you can hear, and so on until you are back in the room. If you are running low and flat rather than wound up, Donna usually offers no breathing exercise at all, since speeding up your breath is the wrong move when you are already empty."
  }
},
{
  "@type": "Question",
  "name": "How does the breathing visual keep me on pace?",
  "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "The visual expands and settles at the pace of the breath, so you do not have to count in your head. Donna does not state seconds or count out loud, and the visual respects your reduced-motion setting if you have one turned on."
  }
},
{
  "@type": "Question",
  "name": "How do I start a grounding exercise with Donna?",
  "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Two ways. Open one yourself: the wind glyph in the top-right corner opens a panel that asks where you are at, and one tap on a felt state starts the cadence that matches it. On a phone, the menu glyph in the bottom bar has a Breathing row that asks the same question, with the same felt states, and the one you pick renders right in the feed. Or Donna offers one on its own when it senses you are running hot, setting the to-do aside to help you settle first. Either way, you start it and you stop it."
  }
},
{
  "@type": "Question",
  "name": "Does Donna track how often I use the breathing exercises?",
  "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "No. Donna does not count your breathing or turn it into a streak, and there is no tally or reminder to do it more often. It is a tool for a hard moment."
  }
}
]
}` }}
/>

<script
  type="application/ld+json"
  dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: `{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "HowTo",
"name": "5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding with Donna",
"description": "For when you are too activated to follow a breath, Donna walks you down through the classic 5-4-3-2-1 grounding sequence: five things you can see, four you can hear, and so on, until you are back in the room. Donna reads how activated you are and picks the exercise that fits, reaching for 5-4-3-2-1 when breathing feels like too much.",
"totalTime": "PT3M",
"step": [
{
  "@type": "HowToStep",
  "position": 1,
  "name": "Five things you can see",
  "text": "Donna walks you down through five things you can see, until you are back in the room."
},
{
  "@type": "HowToStep",
  "position": 2,
  "name": "Four things you can hear",
  "text": "Notice four things you can hear, and so on, as Donna paces you back to the room."
},
{
  "@type": "HowToStep",
  "position": 3,
  "name": "Three things you can touch",
  "text": "Continue down the sequence to three things you can touch."
},
{
  "@type": "HowToStep",
  "position": 4,
  "name": "Two things you can smell",
  "text": "Notice two things you can smell."
},
{
  "@type": "HowToStep",
  "position": 5,
  "name": "One thing you can taste",
  "text": "Finish with one thing you can taste, back in the room. You start the exercise and you stop it, and stopping early does not affect anything."
}
]
}` }}
/>