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Breathing exercise · 2 + 1 · 6

Cyclic sighing.

Breathe in through your nose, sip in a little more, then let it all go in one long breath out through your mouth. A double breath in and a slow sigh out — the quickest way to let tension go.

Updated

How to do it

  1. Sit comfortably. Breathe in through your nose until your lungs feel nearly full.
  2. Breathe in again — a short second sip through your nose, to fill them all the way.
  3. Breathe out slowly through your mouth, for as long as is comfortable — longer than both breaths in together.
  4. Let the next breath come on its own, and repeat.

One to three sighs can take the edge off a stressful moment; in the Stanford study people practised for five minutes a day. Keep it slow and soft — this is not breathing fast, it is breathing out long.

When it helps

You already sigh like this without thinking — when you are relieved, as you fall asleep, after you cry. A sigh seems to reset your breathing; cyclic sighing simply does it on purpose, again and again.

Reach for it when stress spikes: before you open a difficult message, in a queue, after a scare on the road once the car has stopped. There is no counting and no holding, so it works even when your mind is too busy for a rhythm.

It is often called the physiological sigh, and it became widely known through Andrew Huberman’s lab at Stanford, which studied it.

What the research says

  • In a month-long randomised study at Stanford, five minutes a day of breathing exercises improved mood and slowed resting breathing more than mindfulness meditation did — cyclic sighing, with its long out-breath, most of all.

    Balban et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2023

  • In 42 people sitting quietly, breathing grew more irregular in the minutes before a spontaneous sigh and settled into a steadier pattern after it — as if the sigh reset it.

    Vlemincx et al., Biological Psychology, 2010

  • Across 12 randomised trials with 785 adults, breathwork lowered stress compared with control groups.

    Fincham et al., Scientific Reports, 2023

Cyclic sighing has one randomised study so far: promising, not settled. These are studies of the exercise and of breathing, not of Halebloom.

Take care

  • Keep it slow. If you feel light-headed or tingly, you are breathing too much — pause and breathe normally.
  • Don’t practise while driving or in water.
  • If you have a heart or lung condition, ask your doctor before changing how you breathe.
  • Halebloom is a wellness app, not a medical device, and breathing exercises are not a treatment for anxiety disorders.

Questions

What is a physiological sigh?

It is the double breath in and long breath out your body does by itself when you sigh — often when you are relieved, or as you drift off. Cyclic sighing is that same sigh, repeated on purpose.

How many sighs should I do?

One to three can take the edge off a stressful moment. For a daily practice, the Stanford study used five minutes. Stop if you feel light-headed.

Cyclic sighing or box breathing?

Cyclic sighing has no holds and a long out-breath — quick to reach for when stress spikes, and in the Stanford study it lifted mood the most. Box breathing keeps four equal counts — steadier, good before something that needs focus.

Do I breathe out through the mouth or the nose?

In through the nose and out through the mouth is the classic way — the mouth makes the long out-breath easy. Out through the nose works too if it feels better; what matters is that the out-breath is long and slow.

Can it help me fall asleep?

A few slow sighs can help you settle, but for winding down over several minutes, 4-⁠7-⁠8 breathing and the extended exhale are made for it.

In Halebloom

Cyclic sighing, without counting.

In Halebloom, cyclic sighing is one of six exercises. A living world opens with your breath in, opens a little more with the second sip and slowly closes as you sigh out, so you never think about the timing; a voice (Pro) and soft taps from Apple Watch guide it with your eyes closed.

Free to download. Every exercise is free.

The list in the app: a suggestion for now, all six exercises with their rhythms, and your way below.

More exercises

All six breathing exercises · All six — and a living world to follow each — are in Halebloom. See the app