This breathing trick effectively helps against stress

By Martin Lewicki | Feb 27, 2023 at 6:06 pm

Being constantly stressed is stressful for most people in the long run. Unfortunately, everyday stress is not always avoidable. In addition to eliminating potential triggers, one approach is to learn stress reduction techniques. It often includes breathing exercises. A study also found that a certain type of breathing not only reduces stress but also increases well-being better than meditation.

Breathing exercises versus mindfulness training

For the US study conducted by Stanford University, 114 subjects were recruited.¹ The study participants were divided into four groups: three groups performed breathing exercises, the fourth group performed mindfulness meditation exercises. The trial period lasted 28 days, with each group doing the exercises for just five minutes per day. The following breathing exercises were performed:

• Set 1: Periodic sigh. Inhale twice in a row, then exhale consciously more slowly. Double inhalation occurs one after the other without exhalation 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 long: inhale, hold your breath, exhale, hold your breath.
• Group 3: “cyclic hyperventilation” means periodic 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 you deal better with stress

This is how periodic vision works

Breathing exercises are more effective than pure meditation

At the end of the trial period, about 90 percent of the study participants reported feeling comfortable performing the exercises. Plus, 96 percent of the people tested found the video instructions very easy. Interestingly, the breathing groups seemed to find it easier to keep up with the meditation group. The latter performed the exercises an average of 17.7 out of 28 days, while the groups that did the breathing exercises for about two days lasted longer, an average of 19.6 days.

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Every day, the participants had to record in a stress diary how they felt before and after the exercise in question. At the same time, the data from the fitness bracelet obtained by everyone was evaluated. Among others, information on sleep quality, respiratory rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability were considered.

Diary evaluation and data collected with the fitness bracelet showed that well-being in each group improved after exercise. In general, the breathing exercises were more effective than mindfulness meditation alone. Above all, however, positive effects increased with greater compliance with the testing protocol. These include the following improvements:

• Decreased breathing rate
• Decreased heart rate
• An improvement in heart rate variability
• Reducing anxiety states, which describe a subjective feeling of tension and manifest through a state of increased arousal in the autonomic nervous system.

Periodic sighing as a breathing trick against stress

One group in particular stood out: the participants who practiced cyclic sighing. They also showed significant physiological effects over time, such as a decreased respiratory rate. The researchers concluded that this type of controlled breathing is more effective against stress than, for example, mindfulness meditation.

So you can talk about a breathing trick against stress. On awakenings, it is helpful to step back for a few minutes and consciously practice this simple breathing exercise: breathe deeply twice in a row and then exhale for a longer time. The positive effect is not only acute, but according to the study, it also has a lasting effect on stress perception. A very simple exercise that can be done 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.

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