About ONDA Life
In short: ONDA Life is an iPhone app that helps you notice the state of your nervous system and train it with breathing. We don’t give scores like “stress 55%”. We show your own trend and give you a practice to work with it.
Our principle: don’t track stress — train self-regulation.
What the app does
- •Your personal baseline. ONDA builds a baseline from your heart rate and HRV (heart rate variability) history in Apple Health — from Apple Watch or another device that syncs its data there. Every day it compares you with you, not with averaged tables.
- •Breathing with biofeedback. With Apple Watch you see in real time how your breathing changes your heart rhythm, and you learn to find a calm, even rhythm.
- •Pulse without a watch. No watch? ONDA measures your pulse with the iPhone camera.
- •Short practices. Mostly 3–12 minutes, a few up to 30: breathing, body attention, micro-movements, contemplation. If your readings stay steady, ONDA occasionally invites you to a short camera check-in or a practice.
- •A path of levels. The practices form a route: from grounding in the body to clarity and inner support. The level metaphors are figurative language for experience, not medical stages. Regular practice earns OND, the app’s game currency; it cannot be withdrawn as money.
What ONDA is built on
The evidence-based part of ONDA is slow (resonance) breathing and HRV biofeedback — among the most studied ways to influence the autonomic nervous system. The details, with sources, are in Science.
We are honest about the limits too: HRV from watches and rings is an estimate, not a medical measurement; one morning means nothing — your trend is what matters; low HRV is most often a reaction to short sleep, alcohol, illness or training load, not a diagnosis. See Why is my HRV low?
How we handle information
- •Science. Every claim in the science section rests on a source with a DOI and a verbatim quote. We say who funded a study, flag single studies, and write “not shown” when there is no data.
- •Device and app reviews. Scores follow one open methodology. Manufacturer-run studies don’t count as evidence. If a manufacturer claims clinical proof the product doesn’t have, we lower the score and quote their wording. Brands can’t pay for a score; any affiliate link is labelled and doesn’t affect the score.
- •AI assistants. Our tools are available in Claude and ChatGPT: device comparison, breathing practices, HRV by age. More on the ONDA in AI apps page.
Privacy
- •Your progress and diary are stored on your device.
- •Heart rate and HRV values are not sent to analytics.
- •You don’t need an account to do the practices.
The person behind ONDA
ONDA Life was created by Yakiv Bilenko — architect and Gestalt therapist.
For more than 20 years he has designed physical environments: housing, public and industrial buildings, interiors, landscapes. For more than 10 years he has also worked as a Gestalt therapist and coach, building programs to restore physical, mental and emotional resources.
ONDA continues a question that links both professions: how a person’s outer environment and inner state shape each other. The app is a tool for working with your “inner architecture” with the same care an architect brings to a building.
Yakiv Bilenko on LinkedIn →Company
ONDA Life is a product of Onda Life LLC (USA). The founder lives and works in Avilés (Asturias, Spain).
ONDA is a tool for self-guided practice and self-observation. It is not a medical device, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for care from a doctor or psychotherapist.
If you have worrying symptoms — chest pain, fainting, severe shortness of breath, or an irregular heartbeat that doesn’t settle — seek emergency care.