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‘Cyclic sighing’ can help breathe away anxiety...

feduccini said:
Cool, I'll try this for a week and see if it helps. Have you tried @BloodMoon? What did you think?
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Yes, I'm doing it for 5 minutes a day in the mornings. The effect is immediately calming. The research study participants did it for 5 minutes a day for a month. I've just been doing it for a couple of weeks and feel generally more relaxed. Perhaps after another couple of weeks I'll feel super chilled out. Even if the latter doesn't happen, the practise is making enough of a difference to my life for me to commit to making a daily habit of it.
 
@HealingMe I first read about 'cyclic sighing' in a book in which it's referred to as a 'physiological sigh'. The book is '101 Ways to Find Calm: How to use your body to soothe your mind' by Rebekah Ballagh. As the description of the book on amazon says, it contains "calming ideas come from a range of scientifically backed methods, with influences from somatic therapy practices, polyvagal exercises, mindfulness, breath work, meditation and yin yoga". Just thought I'd mention it in case you might be looking for additional ways to tackle anxiety; all of the practises are 'bite-sized' and quick and easy to do https://www.amazon.com/101-Ways-Find-Calm-soothe/dp/1991006039/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ATbUXHTqTqIUc_Y3H3OyDhp5WF1IET3ecIRYxByaBBO1VRULJWt5E53jC4fs7HeRrdxAMmkAKuQrbR-NDfl7CU13IlPildBB0boRkI3URPmvHqhCUafRuhqXAKkS8rkhX_OHtLamABijiHFzNGzbD_Hw034gTHR1qXskiLOA_jNkczNRZgH9vADXka7QH1U8MlRC1JBjpAdjlVJB35E8a6EPXsJa4X78LsxeFRuyaFY.CKZMfwdEUkgP9JCNwGOSZEzTKgFLpVpXMAc4ZGyAqxE&qid=1733955506&sr=8-1 (Amazon.com)
 
Thank you so much @BloodMoon!

The breathing technique actually reminds me to something similar I've done in the past where you inhale all the wayyyy as much as your lungs take it, and then do another short inhale at the end (sensation feels like you'll pop a balloon and can't take anymore air). Weirdly, every time I do it, it feels satisfying, but that's just me.

I'll have to find a video on it. I believe it was a doctor on some late night TV talk show.
 
You're very welcome,@HealingMe. I also read that cyclic sighing/breathing is the same as what the body does automatically when we are crying or sobbing or sometimes it happens during the night when we're sleeping. This video by Professor Andrew Huberman explains about this and why it works to calm down our anxiety (thought maybe he might be the guy that you saw on TV):

 
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BloodMoon said:
I first read about 'cyclic sighing' in a book in which it's referred to as a 'physiological sigh'. The book is '101 Ways to Find Calm: How to use your body to soothe your mind' by Rebekah Ballagh. As the description of the book on amazon says, it contains "calming ideas come from a range of scientifically backed methods, with influences from somatic therapy practices, polyvagal exercises, mindfulness, breath work, meditation and yin yoga". Just thought I'd mention it in case you might be looking for additional ways to tackle anxiety; all of the practises are 'bite-sized' and quick and easy to do https://www.amazon.com/101-Ways-Find-Calm-soothe/dp/1991006039/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ATbUXHTqTqIUc_Y3H3OyDhp5WF1IET3ecIRYxByaBBO1VRULJWt5E53jC4fs7HeRrdxAMmkAKuQrbR-NDfl7CU13IlPildBB0boRkI3URPmvHqhCUafRuhqXAKkS8rkhX_OHtLamABijiHFzNGzbD_Hw034gTHR1qXskiLOA_jNkczNRZgH9vADXka7QH1U8MlRC1JBjpAdjlVJB35E8a6EPXsJa4X78LsxeFRuyaFY.CKZMfwdEUkgP9JCNwGOSZEzTKgFLpVpXMAc4ZGyAqxE&qid=1733955506&sr=8-1 (Amazon.com)
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This is an interview with the author of '101 Ways to Find Calm: How to use your body to soothe your mind' that I recently discovered in which she gives her 10 favourite effective ways of finding calm ...

 
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Thanks @BloodMoon!
My pt “exercises” are all breath-work in various positions (single inhale but very long exhale). I’m going to try your method as a comparison for some of them. Interesting to see what kind of response I can get compared to what I have been doing.
 
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