How to calm down fast: the guided cyclic sigh

To calm down during a wave of stress, try the cyclic sigh: breathe in through your nose, take a second short sip of air to top up your lungs, then breathe out slowly and fully through your mouth. Repeat for one to five minutes. In a Stanford University study, 5 minutes a day of this exercise improved mood more than mindfulness meditation did.

The cyclic sigh, step by step

1. Breathe in through your nose. Slowly, until your lungs feel almost full.
2. Take a second, shorter inhale. Still through your nose, to fill your lungs the rest of the way.
3. Breathe out slowly through your mouth. All the way out, longer than your two inhales put together.
4. Repeat. At your own pace, for one to five minutes.
5. Go back to your usual breathing. Take a moment to notice how you feel.

The guide uses 3 seconds for the first inhale, 1 second for the second and 6 seconds for the exhale. The study didn’t set any timing: all that mattered was the double inhale followed by a long, complete exhale. If your nose is blocked, you can do it all through your mouth.

Why a sigh?

We all sigh without thinking about it. According to the UCLA news release that accompanied a 2016 study in Nature, people sigh about every five minutes on average. For researcher Jack Feldman, these spontaneous sighs serve to reinflate the alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs. The study itself, done in mice, identified the small circuit of neurons that triggers sighing.

The cyclic sigh takes that natural move and repeats it on purpose, with the emphasis on breathing out. The Stanford researchers describe it as an “exhale-focused” exercise.

What the Stanford study showed

In 2023, Melis Yilmaz Balban, Andrew Huberman, David Spiegel and their colleagues randomly assigned 108 adults to four groups. Each practiced for 5 minutes a day, for 28 days, at home: cyclic sighing, box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation with breath retention, or mindfulness meditation.

• Positive mood improved more with the breathing exercises than with meditation, and cyclic sighing was the only exercise that clearly stood out from meditation on its own.
• Anxiety and negative mood went down in every group, with no difference between breathing and meditation. So meditation is still a good option.
• Resting breathing rate dropped more with breathing than with meditation.

The authors acknowledge the limits: a remote study where no one could check how people practiced, groups of 21 to 33 people, only four weeks of follow-up, and a protocol registered after the fact. More broadly, a meta-analysis of 12 randomized trials of breathwork (Fincham and colleagues, 2023) found a small-to-medium effect on perceived stress.

Two more ways to calm down

Slow breathing with a longer exhale

If the double inhale doesn’t suit you, simply slow down: 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out. That’s the pace of our breathing exercise for sleep, and it works during the day too. Coherent breathing, at 5 seconds in and 5 out, is the other well-studied option.

5-4-3-2-1 grounding

When focusing on your breath gets hard, bring your attention back to what’s around you. This technique, described by the University of Rochester Medical Center among others, starts with a few slow breaths, then moves through your five senses:

1. 5 things you can see around you: a pen, a spot on the ceiling, the color of a wall;
2. 4 things you can touch: your clothes, the chair, the ground under your feet;
3. 3 things you can hear, outside your body;
4. 2 things you can smell;
5. 1 thing you can taste.

We found no controlled trial of this technique, so think of it as a practical tool to come back to the present moment, not a method backed by research.

During a panic attack

A panic attack can make you breathe fast and hard. Overbreathing lowers the carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause lightheadedness and tingling around your mouth or in your hands. MedlinePlus, from the US National Library of Medicine, suggests breathing out slowly through pursed lips, as if blowing out a candle. It also points out that rapid breathing can have a medical cause: if this is the first time, or if you have chest pain, call your local emergency number.

• Start with a slow exhale rather than a big inhale.
• If focusing on your breath makes you feel worse, switch to 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, or put your attention on your feet on the floor.
• Read a sentence that helps you get through the moment: we gathered some in our words for getting through a panic attack.
• If panic attacks keep coming back, talk to a doctor or a therapist: you don’t have to handle them alone.

Frequently asked questions

How can I calm down in one minute?

Do a few cyclic sighs: one inhale through your nose, a short extra sip of air, then a long exhale through your mouth, and repeat for a minute. The guide on this page offers a one-minute session. If breathing doesn’t help in the moment, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, which goes through your five senses, is another quick option.

How long should I do cyclic sighing?

In the Stanford study, participants practiced for 5 minutes a day for 28 days. For a wave of stress, one to three minutes may be all you want. No study has pinned down an ideal length: stop when you feel steadier, or if you get lightheaded.

Is breathing or meditation better for calming down?

Both help. In the Stanford study, anxiety dropped as much with mindfulness meditation as with the breathing exercises; the difference was in positive mood, which cyclic sighing lifted a little more. Choose whichever suits you best and that you’ll want to come back to.

What if slow breathing makes my anxiety worse?

It happens: for some people, paying attention to their breath or trying to relax increases anxiety. That’s not a failure. Stop the exercise, breathe normally and bring your attention outward with 5-4-3-2-1 grounding. If it happens often, talk to a health professional.

More breathing exercises

• Coherent breathing5 minutes at 6 breaths a minute.
• Box breathingFour equal counts to regroup.
• Breathing for sleepThe 4-6 pace, no breath hold.
• Words for a panic attackSimple sentences to get through the moment.
• Affirmations for anxietyFor the days when everything weighs a little more.

Sources

1. Balban, M. Y., et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895.
2. Li, P., et al. (2016). The peptidergic control circuit for sighing. Nature, 530, 293-297.
3. UCLA Health (2016). UCLA and Stanford researchers pinpoint origin of sighing reflex in the brain.
4. Fincham, G. W., et al. (2023). Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Scientific Reports, 13, 432.
5. University of Rochester Medical Center (2018). 5-4-3-2-1 Coping Technique for Anxiety.
6. MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (2024). Hyperventilation.
7. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (2021). Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know.