The physiological sigh is a breathing pattern.

We do it subconsciously when we have a build-up of carbon dioxide in the body (which can happen in deep sleep and stressful situations).

The sigh does 3 things to the body:

1. 💨 Jacks up oxygen levels
2. 🗑 Offloads carbon dioxide
3. 🧘 Activates our parasympathetic (”rest and digest”) nervous system
   

The cool thing is we can do it voluntarily in any stressful situation to calm us down. Fast.

You take a deep inhale. Take another short, fast inhale (on top of the first). Then exhale slowly.

Inhales are through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

(Watch)

Even 1 or 2 of these sighs can calm us down quickly.

Bang for your buck stuff when the pre-game nerves hit, before a presentation, after getting a rude email, or in any stressful situation.

And if you’ve got a few more minutes, a new study published in Stanford Medicine found repeating this breathing pattern for 5 minutes helped:

• 😊 Improve mood‍
• 🧘 Slow breathing‍
• 😌 Lower anxiety
  

They called it cyclic sighing. And found it was more effective than box breathing, hyperventilation/Wim Hoff breathing and mindfulness meditation.

It’s what the science says is currently one of the most effective ways to combat stress.

Keep it in the toolbox.