Cyclic Sighing is a breathing technique that is intended to relax and reduce stress. Here you can find out how it works and what scientific evidence there is about its effectiveness.
Breathing is not only a vital bodily function, but also has a major influence on our psychological well-being. Many breathing techniques take advantage of this connection and are intended to relax the body and mind and ensure inner peace. Conscious breathing plays an important role in yoga or mindfulness exercises, for example.
One such breathing technique for calming down is so-called Cyclic Sighing. Scientific studies also show that it can help against stress and improve mood.
What is Cyclic Sighing?
Literally translated, Cyclic Sighing means “cyclical sighing”. The technique is alternatively known as “physiological sigh”. So it relies on a special way of breathing, namely sighing. When you sigh, you first breathe in deeply and then slowly let the air flow out again. We often do this unconsciously or at least not intentionally.
Cyclic Sighing, on the other hand, is conscious sighing with the aim of reducing stress: slowly exhaling lowers the pulse and blood pressure on a physical level and at the same time increases psychological well-being.
The exact origins of the technique are unknown, but more recently a research team led by psychiatrist David Spiegel and neurobiologist Andrew Huberman at Stanford University has popularized it. In a comparative study, Spiegel and his colleagues examined the neurobiological effectiveness of various breathing techniques, including cyclic sitting. According to the study results published in 2023, cyclical sighing proved to be the most effective method of reducing stress.
Instructions: How Cyclic Sighing works
You can try Cyclic Sighing yourself without much effort and find out whether the breathing technique has a positive effect on you. This is how it works:
- First, relax your breath to have a good foundation for the exercise.
- Then take a deep breath through your nose and down into your abdomen.
- Hold your breath briefly.
- Then breathe in again and just as deeply through your nose. (A short breath is enough, depending on how much air you took into your lungs with the first breath).
- Then breathe out the inhaled air relaxed and slowly through your mouth. The exhalation should last longer than both stages of the inhalation combined.
You can now repeat this cycle of inhaling and exhaling for as long as you want and as it feels good for you.
The Science Behind Cyclic Sighing
Sighing has not only been the subject of scientific research since the aforementioned study from 2023: as early as 2016, neuroscientists Jack Feldman and Mark Krasnow were able to demonstrate that when sighing, certain nerve cells in the brain stem are stimulated to send a dampening signal to the body. This signal is responsible for the relaxing effect we feel when we sigh. However, Feldman and Krasnow examined sighing as a physical reflex and not its targeted application in the form of breathing exercises.
The later study by David Spiegel and Andrew Huberman from Stanford University, however, targeted three specific breathing techniques. In addition to cyclic sitting, they also examined the stress-reducing potential of box breathing and cyclic hyperventilation. Box breathing involves inhaling in three phases of equal length, holding your breath and then exhaling again. In cyclic hyperventilation, the inhalation phase is longer than the exhalation phase. The participants in the study were asked to perform one of the three techniques for five minutes a day for one month.
Cyclic Sighing showed the clearest effect, as the Stanford Medical Magazine summarizes. The exercise not only led to the greatest improvement in well-being, but this effect actually increased as time went on. The other exercises also proved to be helpful: basically, all test subjects reported positive effects such as a reduction in tension, a better mood and an increase in energy, joy and inner peace.
What happens in the body during cyclic lifting?
David Spiegel clearly explains to Stanford Medical Magazine how cyclic standing can help calm you down in stressful situations. As soon as we come under stress, our body reacts quickly: our heartbeat speeds up, we breathe faster, and our muscles tense up.
The brain reacts to these signals in an alarmed manner. “Your brain then thinks, ‘Oh no, something really bad must be happening,’ and you then become even more nervous,” says Spiegel. “The whole thing is like a snowball rolling down a hill.”
By sending relaxation signals to the body through conscious sighing during Cyclic Sighing, we specifically counteract this snowball effect. On a physiological level, cyclic sighing also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of the nervous system that is responsible for relaxation.
Cyclic Sighing in everyday life
As the Stanford study led by David Spiegel and Andrew Huberman shows, you don’t have to invest a lot of time or effort to benefit from cyclical breathing. If you want to integrate the technique into your everyday life, it is enough to practice it for about five minutes every day. It’s best to do this in a quiet, pleasant environment and during a relaxed phase of the day, for example as part of your evening routine.
You can use the technique well even under acute stress without needing a lot of practice or special requirements. For example, it can help you relax and calm down before exams or challenging work situations.
We have more tips for breathing techniques with different effects for you here:
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- Pranayama: This is how the breathing exercises in yoga work
- Wim Hof breathing: This is how the breathing technique works
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