Ambient sound
A slow heartbeat, about 60 beats a minute
Lub-dub, lub-dub — a steady heartbeat at rest, around sixty beats a minute. It's one of the first sounds any of us ever heard, months before anything else, and it stays reassuring for life. Slow, even, and going nowhere. Just there, keeping time.
Tap Heart to hear it, then layer in anything else. Or start from a mix below.
A calm resting heartbeat is famously settling. It's why holding a baby against your chest quiets them, and why the same rhythm can soothe an anxious adult. At roughly sixty beats a minute, it sits at the pace of a relaxed body — slow enough that your own breath tends to drift toward it.
That's the quiet trick of it. Give your breathing a slow, steady beat to follow and it lengthens on its own, which is much of what calming down actually is. Useful in a moment of anxiety, and useful last thing at night when your mind won't slow down.
It's a gentle sound for settling infants, too — familiar from before they were born. Keep it soft and close, and let the rhythm do the settling.
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Why is a heartbeat sound so calming?
A slow resting heartbeat is one of the earliest sounds we know, from before birth. At around 60 bpm it matches a relaxed body, and breathing tends to drift toward its steady pace — which is much of what calming down is.
Can a heartbeat sound help settle a baby?
Often, yes. The rhythm is familiar from the womb, which is part of why holding an infant to your chest quiets them. Keep it soft and steady, low in the background near where they sleep.
How fast is the heartbeat?
About 60 beats a minute — a calm resting pace, not an exercising one. It's synthesized live, so the beat stays even and never loops, and it plays offline.