The feeling of being constantly under pressure is stressful for most people in the long run. Unfortunately, everyday stress cannot always be avoided. In addition to eliminating possible factors, one tactic is to learn stress reduction techniques. These often include breathing exercises. As a study has now found, a certain type of breathing not only reduces stress, but also increases well-being even better than meditation.
First of all, stress is not necessarily negative. In evolutionary terms, it serves to counter dangerous situations. Many people are now in a permanent state of stress with negative consequences for their health. That’s why it’s important to work on how you deal with stressful situations and to develop strategies to put your body into regeneration mode. Mindfulness training or meditation exercises can help here. However, many people cannot do anything with meditation. There is good news especially for this group: As a study shows, a simple breathing trick that can be integrated into everyday life also works well once morest stress: called “cyclic sighing”. Apparently, this way of breathing works even better than mindfulness meditation alone when you are stressed. FITBOOK explains how it works.
Breathing exercises versus mindfulness training
For the US study by Stanford University, 114 subjects were recruited.1 The study participants were divided into four groups: three groups carried out breathing exercises, the fourth group a mindfulness meditation. The trial period lasted 28 days, with each group doing the exercises for just five minutes a day. The following breathing exercises were practiced:
- Group 1: “Cyclic Sighing”. Breathe in twice in a row and then consciously breathe out much more slowly. The double inhalation occurs one following the other without exhaling in between.
- Group 2: “Box breathing” is also known in German as square breathing, which consists of four phases of equal length, usually three to five seconds: inhale, hold your breath, exhale, hold your breath.
- Group 3: “Cyclic Hyperventilation” means cyclic hyperventilation. This is a long inhale and a short exhale. This leads to hyperventilation.
- Group 4: Meditation exercises, which are not explained in more detail in the study description.
Also interesting: How mindfulness training helps to deal better with stress
This is how cyclic sighting works
Breathing exercises more effective than pure meditation
At the end of the trial period, around 90 percent of the study participants reported that they felt comfortable doing the exercises. In addition, 96 percent of the test persons found the video instructions very easy. Interestingly, the breathing groups seemed to find it easier to keep up than the meditation group. The latter performed the exercises on an average of 17.7 out of 28 days, while the groups with breathing exercises lasted almost two days longer at 19.6 days.
Also interesting: »Mindfulness should be trained like a muscle
Every day, the participants had to record in a stress diary how they felt before and following the respective exercise. At the same time, the data from a fitness bracelet that everyone had received was evaluated. Among other things, information regarding sleep quality, respiratory rate, heart rate and heart rate variability was considered.
The evaluation of the diary and the data collected with the fitness bracelet showed that in each of the groups the well-being improved following the exercises. Overall, however, the breathing exercises were more effective than mindfulness meditation alone. Above all, however, the positive effects increased with increasing compliance with the test protocol. These include the following improvements:
- reduction in respiratory rate
- lower heart rate
- Improvement in heart rate variability
- Reduction of states of anxiety, which describe the personal feeling of tension and are shown by an increased state of excitement in the autonomic nervous system.
More articles on breathing
Cyclical sighing as a breathing trick once morest stress
One group in particular stood out: the participants who practiced cyclic sighing. They also showed significant physiological effects over time, such as a lower respiratory rate. The researchers conclude that this form of controlled breathing is more effective once morest stress than, for example, mindfulness meditation.
So you can actually speak of a breathing trick once morest stress. In arousal situations, it helps to retreat for a few minutes and consciously practice this simple breathing exercise: Breathe in deeply twice in a row and then breathe out much longer. The positive effect is not only acute, but according to the study also has a lasting effect on the perception of stress. A very simple exercise that can be practiced almost anywhere. Even at your desk in the office or behind the wheel in a traffic jam, you don’t have to do much more than focus on your breathing and lengthen the exhalation phase. After just a few minutes, the world should look better.
