How many times have we heard the advice to take a deep breath when we’re stressed? It’s everywhere, and the logic is approx there; We know steady breathing can help Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (as opposed to fight or flight), so taking a deep breath can start that, right?
not exactly. As Huberman explains, “If you are nervous, choose deep breath It is not the best solution. If you take a deep breath, it will actually increase your heart rate through a process called respiratory arrhythmia.”
What he suggests instead, is to take a double inhale through the nose and a long, extended exhale through the nose as well.”[This] It’s the best method by far, and it’s not a hack—it’s what you do when you’re in a stuffy environment, and you do it every 1-3 minutes while you sleep,” he notes.
Huberman explains that when you do this technique (which he calls “physiological sighing”), you naturally activate the neural circuits in your brain and body that switch from sympathetic tone — wakefulness and tension — to sympathetic. He adds, “For most people, it only takes one physiological sigh [to] Return completely to a state of calm, and this is, as far as I know, the fastest way to transform yourself from a state of tension to a state of calm.”
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