Can a Breathing Necklace Help You Quit Smoking or Vaping?

Published October 2026.

Breathing necklaces are everywhere in quit-smoking and quit-vaping conversations, and it is easy to see why: they give your hands and mouth something to do, they look like ordinary jewelry, and they contain no nicotine at all. But can a breathing necklace actually help you quit smoking or vaping? The honest answer is that it can help with one important part of quitting, getting through cravings, especially when you pair it with proven quit support. Here is what the research says, how to use one when a craving hits, and what a necklace cannot do.

On this page:

• The Short Answer
• What the Research Says About Breathing and Cravings
• How a Breathing Necklace Can Help
• How to Use a Breathing Necklace During a Craving
• Open-Tube or Resistance: Which Is Better for Quitting?
• What a Breathing Necklace Can’t Do
• Free Help to Quit Smoking or Vaping
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Short Answer

A breathing necklace is not a quit-smoking treatment, and it will not make nicotine withdrawal go away. What it can do is give you a quick, nicotine-free way to ride out cravings and replace some of the physical habits that make smoking and vaping so hard to drop. Think of it as one tool in your quit plan, not the plan itself.

What the Research Says About Breathing and Cravings

Breathing necklaces themselves have not been studied as a quit aid, but the breathing technique they encourage has been:

• A 2004 study published in Addictive Behaviors (McClernon, Westman and Rose) found that scheduled controlled deep breathing reduced cravings, tension and irritability in smokers during a four-hour period without cigarettes. The authors described it as a preliminary but promising way to relieve withdrawal symptoms.
• A 2013 laboratory study in Psychopharmacology (Shahab, Sarkar and West) found that a short session of yogic-style breathing reduced cravings in abstaining smokers more than a control did, immediately afterward. The effect did not carry over to the next day, partly because participants rarely kept practicing between sessions.

The takeaway is practical: slow breathing seems to help in the moment, so it works best as something you do every single time a craving appears. That is exactly where a necklace helps: the tool is always with you.

How a Breathing Necklace Can Help

• It slows your breathing on cue. The narrow opening stretches out your exhale, the same pattern used in the studies above.
• It replaces the hand-to-mouth ritual. For many smokers and vapers, the physical routine is as hard to give up as the nicotine. Lifting a pendant to your lips gives you a familiar motion with nothing harmful in it.
• It recreates the “smoke break” pause. Part of what people miss is the excuse to step away and breathe for a minute. A few slow breaths through the pendant gives you that pause without the cigarette.
• It is a visible reminder. Wearing it every day keeps your goal close, literally.

New to breathing necklaces? Start with our guide to how a breathing necklace works, or learn the technique behind it in straw breathing: the slow-exhale technique.

How to Use a Breathing Necklace During a Craving

1. Notice the craving. Name it to yourself: “This is a craving. It will pass.”
2. Breathe in through your nose for a slow count of about four.
3. Breathe out slowly through the pendant for a count of six to eight, until your lungs feel comfortably empty.
4. Repeat for one to three minutes. Cravings tend to come in waves that build, peak and pass; your job is just to get past the peak.
5. Follow up with something else: a glass of water, a short walk, or texting a friend who knows you are quitting.

Stop and breathe normally if you feel lightheaded. The goal is slow and comfortable, not forced.

Open-Tube or Resistance: Which Is Better for Quitting?

There are two main styles. Open-tube necklaces are simple hollow pendants you exhale through slowly. Resistance necklaces add a built-in restriction, and sometimes flavored inserts, so breathing through them feels closer to drawing on a cigarette or vape. If the physical draw is what you miss most, a resistance model may feel more satisfying; if you want a calming pause with no refills to buy, an open tube is enough. We compare the options, including the Komuso Shift and popular resistance models, in Best Breathing Necklace: Komuso vs. Resistance vs. Budget Picks.

What a Breathing Necklace Can’t Do

• It does not replace nicotine. Physical withdrawal is real. Nicotine replacement and prescription quit medications are designed for that; a necklace is not.
• It is not proven to help you quit on its own. Be cautious of product pages promising that cravings “disappear” within days; those figures usually come from company surveys, not independent studies.
• It works only if you use it. The research suggests the benefit is in the moment, so the habit of reaching for it matters more than the necklace itself.

The approaches with the strongest evidence are quit counseling and FDA-approved quit medications, and using them together works better than either alone. A breathing necklace fits alongside those, not instead of them.

Free Help to Quit Smoking or Vaping

• Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) for free coaching from your state’s quitline.
• Visit smokefree.gov for free quit plans, apps and text-message programs, including support for quitting vaping.
• Teens can text QUIT to 47848 for free daily support messages.
• Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about nicotine replacement and other quit medications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a breathing necklace help you quit smoking?

It can help with one piece of quitting: getting through individual cravings. Studies have found that slow, controlled breathing can reduce cravings in the short term, and a breathing necklace gives you a ready-made way to practice it plus something to do with your hands and mouth. It does not treat nicotine withdrawal, so it works best alongside proven quit support such as counseling and FDA-approved quit medications.

Is a breathing necklace a vape?

No. You do not inhale anything from an open-tube breathing necklace; you breathe in through your nose and out through the pendant. There is no nicotine, liquid, vapor or smoke. Some resistance models are designed to be breathed through with a draw, and some add flavored inserts, but they still contain no nicotine.

How do you use a breathing necklace during a craving?

When a craving starts, breathe in through your nose for about four seconds, then breathe out slowly through the pendant for six to eight seconds. Repeat for one to three minutes. Cravings tend to come in waves that build and then pass, so the goal is simply to ride out the peak.

Should I get a resistance or open-tube necklace to quit vaping?

If the physical “draw” of a vape is what you miss most, a resistance model may feel more satisfying. If you mainly want a calming pause and a hand-to-mouth replacement without refills, a simple open-tube necklace is enough. Many people start with the simpler option first.

Where can I get free help to quit smoking or vaping?

In the US, you can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for free coaching from your state quitline, and visit smokefree.gov for free tools, apps and text programs. Your doctor or pharmacist can also talk with you about quit medications.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice. A breathing necklace is a mindfulness accessory, not a medical device or a smoking cessation treatment. For help quitting, talk with your doctor or pharmacist, or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.