During the epidemic, anxiety levels have increased, resulting in a dearth of mental health care specialists and significant wait periods for counseling. According to Stanford Medicine research, there is a simple and efficient technique to reduce stress levels from the comfort of one’s own home.
A regulated breathing practice of five minutes, often known as cyclic sighing, can help alleviate anxiety and tension. The steps are straightforward: Inhale deeply through your nose. When you’ve comfortably filled your lungs, take a second, deeper gulp of air to expand your lungs as much as possible. According to Stanford Medicine, exhale slowly through your mouth until all of the air is gone.
Repeating these deep sighs for five minutes will assist activate the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce the heart rate, both of which have a calming impact on the body.
Breaking the anxiety spiral
Stress is a prevalent issue in the job, with 80% of workers in the United States reporting it. When we are anxious, our breathing rate rises and becomes shallower, forcing some of the air sacs in our lungs to collapse and raising blood CO2 levels. This might upset us and heighten our anxiety levels.
A randomized, controlled experiment was conducted to compare the effects of cyclic sighing to two alternative breathing exercises, one stressing inhalation and the other asking participants to breathe in and out for equal amounts of time.
For one month, the 111 healthy participants were instructed to undertake their allocated activity for five minutes every day. While all three controlled breathing exercises reduced anxiety and bad mood, the cyclic sighing group experienced the highest daily improvement in good sensations such as energy, pleasure, and serenity.
Reduce your stress level over time.
“Most of the time, breathing, like digestion, heartbeat, and other body processes, is automatic,” stated Prof. MD David Spiegel, co-author of the study.
The effects of the exercise were stronger as the trial progressed, indicating that a regular habit can lead to long-term stress reduction and mood enhancement.
One of the most appealing aspects of cyclic sighing is that it may be done at any time and from any location, with no expense or negative effects. So, the next time you’re feeling worried, try taking a few deep breaths and see what happens.
The findings were reported in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.
Study abstract:
Controlled breathwork practices have emerged as potential tools for stress management and well-being. Here, we report a remote, randomized, controlled study (NCT05304000) of three different daily 5-min breathwork exercises compared with an equivalent period of mindfulness meditation over 1 month. The breathing conditions are
(1) cyclic sighing, which emphasizes prolonged exhalations;
(2) box breathing, which is the equal duration of inhalations, breath retentions, and exhalations; and
(3) cyclic hyperventilation with retention, with longer inhalations and shorter exhalations. The primary endpoints are improvement in mood and anxiety as well as reduced physiological arousal (respiratory rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability). Using a mixed-effects model, we show that breathwork, especially exhale-focused cyclic sighing, produces greater improvement in mood (p < 0.05) and reduction in respiratory rate (p < 0.05) compared with mindfulness meditation. Daily 5-min cyclic sighing has promise as an effective stress management exercise.
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