**🔼 Up:** [[Breathwork]] **\#️⃣ Tags:** #Exercise #NervousSystem --- Cyclic Sighing (also known as Somatic Sighing, The Soothing Sigh, or The Physiological Sigh) is a powerful breathwork practice that helps us to rapidly regulate the [[Nervous System]]. It works through leveraging the body's sighing mechanism which we often do naturally while we sleep to signal safety to the body and activate the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. # How it Helps - Releases muscular armouring and tightness in the chest, throat and shoulders which helps to lower anxiety and tension. - Releases breath holding patterns and encourages a return to natural and unrestricted breathing. - Stimulates the vagus nerve (particularly when experimenting with audible sighs). - Pretty rapidly shifts the nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic. - Balances and regulate carbon dioxide CO₂ in the bloodstream. - Lowers cortisol levels and promotes relaxation. - Encourages a subtle emotional discharge. # When To Use It You can do this practice whenever you're feeling particularly dysregulated, stressed or disconnected from the body. You could also use it more situationally and strategically, say in situations you know you feel overwhelmed going into (like before difficult conversations or public speaking), or even before bed or as part of a regular mindfulness practice. # Two Ways To Practice There are a couple of different ways to practice Cyclic Sighing. The first is really simple and soothing, and the second is probably what most people are more familiar with given people like Andrew Huberman have spoken about it. As a practice, it can be done anytime during the day for 3-5 minutes at a time. If you're regularly dysregulated, you can perhaps build a simple practice 1-3 times into your day where you consciously set aside time to do this. ## The Somatic Sigh The Somatic Sigh is a really simple version which doesn't require much (if any) cognitive load, involving a normal inhale followed by an audible sigh exhale. This variant is more focused on vagus nerve stimulation and toning, and is likely better to start with where there's a lot of dysregulation. **Instructions:** 1. Take a slow and normal inhale either through the mouth or nose. 2. Exhale through the mouth with an audible sigh (like an "Ahhh" or "Haaa" sound). 3. Let go completely on the exhale. Tune into your body's felt sense and notice any subtle release in tension or emotion. ## The Physiological Sigh The Physiological Sigh is likely the more well-known variant as it was studied by researchers at Standford University and has the likes of Andrew Huberman speaking about it on various places on the internet. It's a little more involved than the first variant, and typically doesn't include an audible sigh although you can experiment by including that if you wish to include the vagus nerve stimulation aspect. **Instructions:** 1. Take a deep inhale through the nose to fill the lungs, and as they're almost filled, take a second sip of air in to fully inflate the lungs. 2. Exhale through the mouth either silently or with an audible sigh. 3. Again, let go completely on the exhale. Tune into your body's felt sense and notice any subtle release in tension or emotion. # Resources 1. [Reduce Anxiety & Stress with the Physiological Sigh \| Huberman Lab Quantal Clip - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdhqBGqiMc) 2. ['Cyclic sighing' can help breathe away anxiety - Scope](https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2023/02/09/cyclic-sighing-can-help-breathe-away-anxiety/) 3. [5 Minute Guided Cyclic Sighing - Andrew Huberman - YouTube](https://youtu.be/ZEl3FAaSrX4?si=3qklKna4XbHL1Gd9)