Two breaths for a racing mind

Breathing happens on its own, but you can also steer it on purpose. That makes it a handy tool when your thoughts are running ahead of you. The research behind breathing practices is promising, though more modest than some online claims suggest.

What is a physiological sigh?

“Physiological sigh” is the popular name for a particular breathing pattern. When it is repeated for a few minutes, researchers call it cyclic sighing. You take a slow breath in, then a second, shorter breath in on top to fill your lungs fully, followed by a long, slow breath out.

In the study described below, people were asked to do both breaths in through the nose and the long breath out through the mouth, though breathing only through the nose was fine too. They were also told it is normal for the second breath in to be shorter than the first (Balban et al., 2023).

Does cyclic sighing really reduce stress?

The best-known study is a 2023 trial from Stanford published in Cell Reports Medicine. 108 adults, mostly university students, were randomly assigned to practise one of four exercises for five minutes a day over a month: cyclic sighing, box breathing, fast breathing with breath holds, or mindfulness meditation (Balban et al., 2023).

Here is what they found:

• All four groups, including meditation, showed improvements each day in positive mood, and reductions in anxiety and negative mood.
• The breathing groups, and especially the cyclic sighing group, had a greater increase in positive mood than the meditation group. They also had a larger drop in their average daily breathing rate.
• In the breathing groups, the daily boost to positive mood grew the more days people kept practising.

And here is what it did not show:

• The breathing exercises did not reduce anxiety more than meditation did. The differences between groups were in positive mood.
• There was no change in longer-term anxiety levels in any group.
• There was no group that did nothing, so the study compares breathing with meditation, not with no practice at all.

The authors were also open about the study’s limits. It was run remotely, so they couldn’t check exactly how people practised. It was designed as an exploratory study ahead of a larger trial, and was not pre-registered as a clinical trial. The groups were fairly small, with 30 people in the cyclic sighing group.

So a fair summary is this: five minutes a day of cyclic sighing looked like a pleasant, useful practice that lifted mood a little more than meditation in this group of people. It is a promising start, not the final word.

Does slow breathing help anxiety?

Looking beyond a single study helps. A 2023 meta-analysis pooled 12 randomised trials of breathwork and found it was linked with lower self-reported stress than control conditions, with a small-to-medium effect. There were similar effects for anxiety and depressive symptoms (Fincham et al., 2023). The authors also pointed out that most studies had a moderate risk of bias, and urged caution to avoid a gap between hype and evidence.

A systematic review of slow breathing, fewer than 10 breaths a minute, looked at how it affects the body in healthy people. It found links with increased heart rate variability, a sign of the body’s calming system at work, along with feelings of relaxation, comfort and alertness, and fewer feelings of anxiety and anger (Zaccaro et al., 2018). That review included only 15 studies, so it is best read as a map of what might be going on rather than a verdict.

When is a breathing practice worth trying?

Breathing practices are not a fix for everything, and they are not a replacement for support if anxiety is getting in the way of your life. But as a small, free thing you can do almost anywhere, a couple of slow sighs is worth having in your pocket.

It also pairs well with writing. When your mind is racing, it can be hard to find the first sentence. Taking a few slow breaths before you open Droplet gives you a moment to land, and then the words can come at their own pace.

Try this

1. Breathe in slowly through your nose. When your lungs feel full, take one more short breath in on top.
2. Breathe out slowly and fully through your mouth, letting the exhale be longer than the inhale.
3. Repeat for a minute or two, or up to five minutes if it feels good. Stop if you feel light-headed.
4. Afterwards, write one line about how your body and mind feel now.

This article is general information and not a substitute for professional care. If you need more support, see When to reach for more support.