Most breathing advice promises calm and offers little to check it against. Cyclic sighing has something better: a randomized trial. It is a small trial with real limits, so here is what it found and where it stops.
What the practice is
Cyclic sighing is a double inhale, two breaths in with no exhale between them, followed by one long, slow exhale. In the trial below, people practiced it for five minutes a day.
What the study found
A Stanford-led team ran a remote, randomized trial over 28 days that enrolled 108 adults. Participants were assigned to one of four daily five-minute practices: cyclic sighing, box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation with retention, or mindfulness meditation [1].
Taken together, the breathing groups reported a larger mood improvement (higher positive affect) and a larger drop in respiratory rate than the mindfulness group. Cyclic sighing had the biggest mood gain, and it was the one breathing group whose mood gain was individually significant against mindfulness [1]. Mood was self-reported, so this tells us how people said they felt, not what their bodies did.
What it did not show
The significant differences were against mindfulness meditation. The paper does not show cyclic sighing beating box breathing or cyclic hyperventilation with retention. Mindfulness and breathing groups both reported lower state anxiety, so anxiety is not where breathing stood out. The study found no significant change in heart rate variability or resting heart rate in any group. The authors describe the work as exploratory, and it was registered after it began [1]. One trial in healthy adults is a starting point, not a verdict.
Why it might help is also not settled. One proposed explanation is that slow, extended exhalation raises vagal activity, the branch of your nervous system tied to rest. That is a theoretical model, not something this trial tested [2].
If you want to try it
Take a double inhale, then a long, unhurried exhale until you feel done. Keep it gentle and repeat for about five minutes. Treat it as a low-cost experiment and notice how your mood feels afterward. If you feel dizzy, stop and breathe normally.
The trial excluded people with heart disease, glaucoma, seizure history, pregnancy, and psychiatric conditions. If any of those apply to you, check with your clinician before starting a breathing practice.
References
↑︎ Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine. 2023;4(1):100895. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895. Used for: the 28-day remote randomized design (108 enrolled adults, four arms, 5 minutes a day, exploratory, retrospectively registered, NCT05304000); greater positive-affect improvement and greater respiratory-rate reduction with breathwork combined than with mindfulness meditation, with cyclic sighing the only individual breathwork arm significantly above mindfulness on mood; state anxiety fell in both mindfulness and breathwork groups; no significant change in heart rate variability or resting heart rate in either group; the listed exclusions.
↑︎ Gerritsen RJS, Band GPH. Breath of life: the respiratory vagal stimulation model of contemplative activity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2018;12:397. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00397. Used for: the proposal (a theoretical model, not an experiment) that slow, extended exhalation increases vagal activity.
Kurt Greiner
Kurt is a digital strategist and IT professional blending emerging technology with practical application to help businesses and individuals streamline their digital presence. His current work focuses on the intersection of intentional living and technological resilience, exploring how individuals can leverage modern tools to navigate the second half of life with purpose.
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