Quantitative Clips Billions of people suffer from stress, and there are tools to combat stress that include things like meditation,
breathing exercises, good nutrition, good social relationships, and avoiding all the bad things in life. Although these activities are powerful, the problem is that they
require people to step away from the stressful activity. By contrast, my
lab and other labs have been very interested in developing tools
that allow us to combat stress. In other words, feeling
calmer in the moment, without having to disconnect
from the stressful activity. The best way I know to do this is called physiological sighing. Physiological sighing is a breathing pattern that involves two inhalations followed by an extended exhalation. Physiological sighs were discovered
in the 1930s as a pattern of breathing that people spontaneously engage in when they are in stifling environments or in a state of deep sleep, when a gas called
carbon dioxide builds up in the bloodstream. Carbon dioxide stimulates the urge to breathe. There are neurons in the brain that know when carbon dioxide levels get
too high. When levels get too high, it leads to inhalation and exhalation,
or double inhalation and exhalation.
You can now do
physiological sighs voluntarily, any time you feel very stressed and want to feel more calm. You do it like this. It's a double inhalation. The first inhalation is usually
longer than the second, but it is still important to
do the second inhalation. Then a long, extended exhale. Typically, both
inhalation is done through the nose and exhalation through the mouth. This is the most effective way
to do physiological sighing. However, if you
cannot breathe through your nose or mouth for any reason, do so through your mouth or through your nose. The second inhalation is very important because your lungs are not just two
big bags of air. They're two big bags of air with lots of little bags in them
, millions of bags. If you were to place these bags
next to each other, they would be the size of a tennis court. This allows more oxygen to be inhaled as well as carbon dioxide to be exhaled. So when you double inhale, it re-inflates any of these
little sacs that have collapsed, and in doing so, allows you to exhale more
carbon dioxide. If you are feeling stressed in any circumstances, inhale twice through the nose and
then exhale for a long time through the mouth.
If you want,
you can repeat this a second or even a third time, but usually,
just one or two, maybe three breaths are
enough. To reduce your level of stress and motivation very quickly, and allow you to feel more calm. "Neuroscience, Huberman Lab Podcast".
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