Two inhales through the nose, a long one and a short top-up, then a long, slow exhale through the mouth. It’s a sigh, slowed down and repeated.
How to practise Cyclic sighing
- Sit or lie comfortably, with your shoulders soft.
- Breathe in through your nose for 3, filling most of the way.
- Without breathing out, take one short extra sip through your nose to top up.
- Breathe out slowly through your mouth for 6, like a relaxed sigh, until the breath feels finished.
- Keep it gentle: the top-up is small, and the exhale is slow rather than pushed.
Each round, step by step
| Step | Seconds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Inhale | 3 | In through the nose, filling most of the way. |
| Top up | 1 | One short extra sip through the nose. |
| Exhale (mouth) | 6 | Out slowly through the mouth, like a long sigh. |
Take care
Keep the top-up small. If you feel dizzy or tingly, stop and breathe normally.
- Keep the top-up small and the exhale unhurried. Big, fast breaths can make you lightheaded.
- If breathing out through your mouth feels uncomfortable, breathe out slowly through your nose instead.
- If you feel dizzy, tingly, breathless, or uncomfortable, stop and let your breathing return to its normal rhythm. Don’t force the pace.
- Breathe gently. If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, stop and return to your normal breath.
Where it comes from
Sighs happen on their own every few minutes: a deeper breath that seems to reset breathing. Researchers at Stanford Medicine turned a deliberate version, two inhales and a long exhale, into a five-minute daily practice called cyclic sighing, and in 2023 compared it with box breathing and mindfulness meditation. The 3 · 1 · 6 timing is Viram’s starting pace, not one the study found best.
What the research says
In a month-long Stanford study, five minutes a day of cyclic sighing lifted mood more than mindfulness meditation and slowed breathing at rest. It didn’t reduce anxiety more than meditation did, and no practice changed heart rate variability. Two small later studies found less anxiety or pain within minutes, compared with no practice or with an equally long session on injury care. It is not a treatment.
Sources
- Hadley Leggett, Stanford Medicine (2023). ‘Cyclic sighing’ can help breathe away anxiety.
- Balban MY et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine 4(1):100895.
- Riedl EM et al. (2026). Simply breathing anxiety away? A pilot, just-in-time ecological momentary intervention study of one-minute cyclic sighing versus box breathing as tools for acute anxiety reduction and attention promotion in real life. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 39(5):608–622.
- Hanley AW, Davis A, Worts P, Pratscher S (2025). Cyclic sighing in the clinic waiting room may decrease pain: results from a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 48(2):385–393.
A wellness practice, not medical advice. Read practising safely before you begin.