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Physiological Sigh

When it comes to acute stress or anxiety, or any time you need to change your psychological and physical state quickly to one of greater safety, there’s a breathing technique for that: the physiological sigh.

Some people may recognise it from Dr Andrew Huberman, the Stanford neuroscientist and podcaster, who has spoken publicly about this technique. It’s a great way to change your state really, really fast.

It’s not the most discreet technique, so it’s generally best avoided in meetings or during conflict, unless you don’t mind people looking at you a little strangely.

Why Physiological Sigh?

Drop your energy works on both sides of this mind-body loop.

The long exhale stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from your brainstem to your gut. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system, your nervous system’s rest-and-digest response, the calming counterbalance to stress, so your brain receives fewer signals of immediate threat.

The dropping-energy image deliberately moves your attention toward creating a sense of stability and feeling grounded, which in turn can guide real changes in muscle tension, weight distribution, and bodily experience. Each side reinforces the other.

For some people, this is an extremely vivid experience, you may feel energy dropping from your head into your stomach and thighs. For others, it’s more metaphorical, actively imagining energy, tension, or stress dropping from your head and chest into your stomach and thighs. For others, it’s just a sense. However you experience it is right for you. The real question is whether it helped.

How to do it?

  1. Find an appropriate space. Find an appropriate place, your desk, the car, a toilet cubicle. Probably not the middle of a meeting. You can remain seated for this one.
  2. First inhale through your nose (3–4 sec). Breathe in through your nose until your lungs feel full. Let your belly expand rather than your chest.
  3. Second inhale, the top-up (1–2 sec). Take a second, shorter breath on top of the first one, filling the upper lungs. Don’t force it, it’s like a sip of air.
  4. Long, slow exhale through your mouth (6–8 sec). Exhale slowly through your mouth or nose, longer than both inhales combined. Let your shoulders drop as you exhale.
  5. Repeat. Repeat one to two more times if needed. One sigh often provides noticeable relief; for deeper stress, do two to three sighs in total.
  6.  

When might this help?

For acute stress or anxiety, or any time you need to change your psychological and physical state quickly to one of greater safety. It is not the most discreet technique, so it’s generally best avoided in meetings or during conflict, unless you don’t mind people looking at you a little strangely.

A note on safety?

Involves brief breath-holding and a forceful exhale. Check with a health professional first if you have a respiratory condition (e.g. asthma, COPD) or a cardiovascular condition, or are pregnant. Stop and return to normal breathing if you feel light-headed or dizzy.

Also: this same technique, repeated for two to five minutes, is called Cyclic Sighing, and can be practised daily as part of Building Resilience & Capacity.

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