Cyclic Sighing: The Best Breathing Technique for Acute Stress | Biohack

00:00:00: The body really does that on its own when you're highly stressed.

00:00:03: A great thing about it is, one of the few ways... ...you can very specifically down-regulate your autonomic nervous system because we all basically live in a state over stimulation all the time.

00:00:14: You also have a slightly more relaxed feeling afterward and this stress, weight has lifted a bit

00:00:22: Beyond lifespan.

00:00:24: Two doctors on longevity and biohacking A new biohack every day for a week.

00:00:30: Today, number four physiological sighing or cyclic sighing.

00:00:37: Mario do you use cyclic sign in your daily life?

00:00:41: Probably In the past.

00:00:43: more like Unconsciously I mean II also know some people who use it sort of unconsciously.

00:00:50: i'll demonstrate It real quick is basically a double inhale followed by a longer exhale.

00:00:56: so you would inhale through your nose, and then slowly exhale through your mouth.

00:01:05: I hope that came through okay on the microphone.

00:01:08: in total you'd repeat that five times?

00:01:10: And that would be one complete cycle of this cyclic sighing.

00:01:13: That's

00:01:14: like real ASMR!

00:01:15: ...and You'd actually use it In situations or moments when you're very stressed.

00:01:20: So...that could Be during an exam It Could be somewhere..it could be at work....It could also be in a personally Very challenging Or stressful situation.

00:01:30: Whenever that happens you can kind of fall back on this cyclic sighing.

00:01:35: And it's actually one of the most popular types of breathwork or breathing techniques, there is also box-breathing which we already talked about in connection with cold exposure.

00:01:47: but this cyclix sighing is otherwise super popular and very well researched still.

00:01:53: I think few people use it to apply it Which really a shame because generally speaking these breathing techniques are something we both believe almost everyone can benefit from yet they're so rarely used.

00:02:09: Yeah, what I find so cool about it is that It's really something you recognize from daily life i think especially with kids.

00:02:15: They use it very actively because when they start crying for example right?

00:02:20: Kids just cry more often don't they?

00:02:22: then they sometimes do this double inhale and You really have to pay attention to it.

00:02:26: It's actually not that rare That they go like Like that, right?

00:02:32: And um... That's actually really strange isn't it?

00:02:35: why would you do that.

00:02:36: Right but that happens all on its own because the body-that's what is called physiological sighing The body really does that when your highly stressed.

00:02:47: so It's not something thats just that kind of add on top like box breathing which the body will never Do On Its Own like literally counting four seconds counting Four Seconds and So on.

00:02:57: But it's really something the body does anyway.

00:03:00: And that's probably why it works so well and is so effective at calming people down, and relaxing them.

00:03:08: The great thing about breathing techniques you just said we'd say practically everyone can benefit from them... ...the Great Thing Is That It's One Of The Few Ways You Can Very Very Very Specifically Downregulate Your Autonomic Nervous System Meaning You Can Bring It Into The Parasympathetic Relaxed State And you can do it very consciously, so make the conscious decision.

00:03:30: I'm going to breathe now and afterwards i'll be calmer than before.

00:03:35: You can't just make a conscious decision- I am calmer now!

00:03:38: But then you will get calmer.

00:03:44: That makes an extremely exciting tool because we all live in a state of overstimulation.

00:03:50: All that's why many people are way too wound up in their daily lives and could benefit from this very, very much.

00:03:59: Yeah you should just build it as a routine right?

00:04:02: You can schedule at fixed times during the day... The important thing is to think of when experiencing a lot of stress Right!

00:04:13: And could benefit form this very-very much yeah.. You should just built into as a Routine

00:04:18: right?!

00:04:18: You can Schedule it at Fixed Times During the Day... The Important Thing Is Just To Think Of It when you're experiencing a lot of stress, right?

00:04:26: Whether it's an exam situation.

00:04:27: I think that also something makes sense to teach kids certain breathing techniques especially so they have way calm themselves down in stressful situations.

00:04:37: during oral exams You can just take the time and build-in this cyclic sighing In between.

00:04:41: It definitely make you more relaxed.

00:04:44: Give yourself few seconds to collect your self And after that answer much more focused way.

00:04:49: Also found mechanism behind very interesting works two different ways.

00:04:53: With inhaling, it's like this when you breathe normally sitting at a table relatively quiet.

00:04:58: You never use your entire lungs.

00:05:00: that means there are always some tiny air sacs.

00:05:03: That's the area where gas exchange ultimately takes place.

00:05:07: they're collapsed so not really filled with with Air and no Gas exchange can actually happen There.

00:05:14: And through this extra inhale At The end When you would normally stop inhaling A portion of these collapsed air sac is reinflated.

00:05:23: then the gas exchange works better.

00:05:25: there again and at the same time through this exhaling, though is slow exhaling to the mouth a so-called baroceptor reflex is triggered which in turn activates the parasympathetic nervous system or the vagus nerve let's say.

00:05:40: And ensures that you also have slightly more relaxed feeling afterward and that distress weight of stress is lifted abit.

00:05:51: Yeah, I actually find that really interesting.

00:05:54: It costs nothing.

00:05:55: you can do at any time.

00:05:57: You could even try it out for yourself right now while listening to this short biohack episode.

00:06:01: maybe stick a Post-it note on your desk in the office somewhere and say okay The next time i'm a bit stressed i'll just do this five times In a row And then observe how good you feel or if it does you Good As always Kind of following the philosophy If it does me good Then i will do more often.

00:06:20: Well, at least you had a break for a minute let's say.

00:06:23: You cleared your head a bit got away from your usual routine.

00:06:26: that why it is also just something you can use relatively well for that.

00:06:30: How about you?

00:06:31: Do you use it consciously in your daily life?

00:06:34: Let us see.

00:06:35: Yeah I actually used the physiological sigh...I mean i'm sure do automatically sometimes no question I wouldn't claim any different than anyone else there but I don't really like using it that much because if you're doing it consciously, then i'd rather have a technique which is also very conscious.

00:06:57: That's why I prefer box-breathing as I can just count along and for me this has slightly meditative effect in the whole time of counting and concentrating on these numbers.

00:07:07: so one two three four and so on right?

00:07:11: That's why I prefer doing that.

00:07:19: Admittedly, I only do it very rarely during the work day.

00:07:23: then i tend to use sleep techniques and try to take a nap or something but at the end of the day when I get home... ...I do it VERY often now!

00:07:32: I've really done this almost every day for a month now.

00:07:36: in the evening In the evening I lie down on the floor for bit And do breathing technique for few minutes.

00:07:45: what I always find is when i get home from work, Yeah, no that

00:08:06: I mean just lying on the floor is also something that i've valued for a very long time.

00:08:32: Yeah,

00:08:35: so much for breathing techniques.

00:08:37: Of course we've prepared another poll for you.

00:08:39: specifically We want to know if you're already integrated any breathing techniques into your daily routine Because because we really believe that everyone can benefit from them and that's why we find it very interesting.

00:08:49: Otherwise we look forward to comments To any other questions to anything?

00:08:53: You wanna know from us or two a topic you want too where you want to learn more.

00:08:58: And yeah feel free to comment.

00:09:00: thanks Mario.

00:09:01: Thank you guys for listening and bye.

00:09:03: Thanks and bye, see you tomorrow until the next hack.