Sigh to calm anxiety

Sighing is an act that poets attribute to lovers. But the truth is that we don’t only sigh when we dream of that someone who is the object of our desires. This pattern of our breathing is closely linked to emotions, but it also serves the body to free us from the weight of tension and stress.

This exhalation, which is usually always audible, short and precedes a deeper inhalation of air, is a mechanism of homeostasis. It balances us. It relieves us. It comforts anyone and even seems to free us from more than one burden. What’s more, this physiological response often acts as a communication mechanism.

Who does not remember, for example, that deep sigh of our mother when we had committed a mischief and she alerted us with that gesture of a prompt reprimand? Even more, It is common that when we hear someone close to us sigh, we ask them almost instantly what is happening to them..

If we do this it is because we know that this act responds to some emotional state that may need validation and support.

Emotions like anxiety can cause us to sigh a lot more.

Sigh, a physiological reset at your fingertips

Andrew Huberman, professor of neurobiology at Stanford University, notes that Sighing is the discreet art of reducing stress and anxiety. The striking thing is that when we deal with these emotional states, this breathing pattern already appears automatically, both in us and in animals.

However, we do not do it adequately, that is, although it generates some relief, it does not always provide a permanent benefit. And this is so for a very specific fact: because we breathe very quickly. Stress causes a good part of our lung alveoli to collapse of air due to the high frequency of our heart. We breathe rapidly and the CO₂ level rises. All of this leads to fatigue and discomfort.

To benefit from sighs, they must be fully conscious acts. A slow, deep sigh has a restorative effect on the body.. It is beneficial because it renews oxygen, eliminates waste carbon dioxide and increases the level of endorphins. We experience a pleasant feeling of well-being that is much more sustained over time.

The benefits of deep exhalation for anxiety

The University of Leuven carried out an interesting investigation in 2016. It was found that Sighing deeply reduced the anxiety index in people who showed this problem. However, the discovery of this health benefit is not new.

There are documents that talk about how in 1930 a technique called “physiological sigh” was already applied. We know that our body carries out small sighs throughout the day unconsciously. We do this to regulate and optimize lung function. However, when we deal with stress and anxiety, those sighs are more frequent, but shorter and more choppy.

The physiological sigh consists of a deep and voluntary breathing with which Exhale steadily for 6-8 seconds. In this way, the heart receptors detect this movement in the diaphragm, and send messages to the brain to reduce the heart rate. Soon we begin to notice a pleasant relaxation…

Sigh deeply 3 times a day

Emotional states of negative valence such as fear, anxiety, anguish and even sadness cause us to sigh much more. Thus, something that is evident is that increasing this rate of daily sighs, far from making us feel good, increases the feeling of alertness. To the point that, in many cases, it can trigger hyperventilation.

To the extent possible, the ideal is to regulate and control the times we sigh. Learning to breathe when we go through those most complicated times, will be beneficial and cathartic. In addition, Sighing deeply and consciously 3-4 times a day will be of great help to us.

The technique would be the following:

Breathe in through your nose steadily for 3-4 seconds. We must ensure that this air fills the abdomen. Hold that air for 7 seconds. Exhale the air loudly (remember, when we sigh we always make a sound) for at least 8 seconds. Let’s repeat it 2 more times.

Sighing while we communicate is also a form of emotional relief.

Exhale as an emotional communication mechanism

Sighing is also a resource for emotional communication. When we hear someone make this characteristic sound, we know that there is something haunting and disturbing in that person’s mind.. We long for emotions of negative valence, but also positive ones. Illusion, love and concern activate that physiological resetter, with which to exhale and find slight relief.

The common thing when someone close to us makes this sound is for us to ask them what is happening to them. Somehow, A sigh is a call for attention in a social context that aims to give us support.each other. Let’s not neglect it. Let’s be inquisitive and try to discover what is eating away at you, what is causing anxiety, grief or nervousness in that close being.

Because although exhaling deeply provides adequate homeostasis to the body, Talk about what hurts, heals and repairs much more. Let us not hesitate to take advantage of that signal, of that mechanism so typical of human beings, such as sighing…

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