How Can Cyclic Sighing Help Lower Stress Levels

Many musculoskeletal injuries we see come from overuse injuries, increasing levels of exercise too quickly, or sometimes just plain goofiness on the part of a patient. Honestly, some of the musculoskeletal issue we’ve seen of late have a psychological component to them. Certainly, we have all heard someone say, “I carry my stress in my shoulders.” I cannot tell you how true this has been not just in the last two years but continuing still today. Most of you know I will not shy away from the tough discussions of life, and I have a few psychologists and counselors that I’m happy to refer to. I’m also interested in what tools we can suggest for you to do at home. Recently, a study out of Stanford Medicine looked at styles of breathing techniques for reducing anxiety and improving overall mood. One method seemed to stand out a bit more than the others. Cyclic Sighing can be done for 5 min / day and may assist with less anxiety, better mood, and a decrease breathing rate at rest. How it’s performed:

• Inhaling briefly through the nose to partially fill the lungs

• Complete filling the lungs with a second brief inhale

• Exhaling through the mouth for twice as long as the inhale.

This exhalation that is double the length of inhalation is extremely powerful for finding a sense of peace and calm. If you’re someone that could use a little less anxiety in your day, we’d love for you to give it a try and let us know what you think. Here is a link to Andrew Huberman’s Guided Cyclic Sighing to help you get the hang of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN2ta7Z4d3s