Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Physiological Sigh

What this episode is about

In this episode, Dr. Andrew Huberman explains the physiological sigh, a natural breathing pattern of a double inhale followed by a long exhale that rapidly offloads carbon dioxide and reduces stress in real time. He draws on research from his lab and experts at UCLA and Stanford, and describes how breathing drives heart rate variability, with longer exhales slowing the heart and calming the nervous system. Listeners will gain a practical, quick tool they can use anywhere to manage stress and anxiety.

Key takeaways

• A double inhale followed by a long exhale offloads carbon dioxide fast, so one to three breaths can dial stress down quickly.
• The physiological sigh is a built-in pattern: dogs, sleeping adults, and sobbing kids all use it to reset themselves.
• Your lungs' millions of tiny air sacs, if flattened, would cover roughly a tennis court, which is why this trick works so well.
• Inhales speed up your heart and exhales slow it down, so longer exhales are a direct lever for calming your nervous system.
• Unlike vacations or retreats, this breathing tool works in real time, letting you de-stress while still engaged in daily life.

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Jack Feldman, Mark Krasnow
2. 3:00 – 4:50: Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Notable quotes from "Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Physiological Sigh"

• By physiologists in the 30s and that was essentially rediscovered by professor jack feldman at ucla a world expert in the neurobiology of respiration and by my colleague mark krasnow at stanford who studies lung function.

  about Jack Feldman · at 0:47

• Volume and the brain sends a signal to the heart to slow the heart down physicians know this as respiratory sinus arrhythmia but this is the basis of what we call hrv heart…

  about Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia · at 3:59

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Jack Feldman — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:52
• Mark Krasnow — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:56
  Professor jack feldman at ucla a world expert in the neurobiology of respiration and by my colleague mark krasnow at stanford who studies lung function the physiological side is a pattern of breathing that we all engage in.

Companies & orgs

• UCLA — Company · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia — Concept · 1 mention · first at 4:03
• Heart Rate Variability (HRV) — Concept · 1 mention
• Physiological Sigh — Concept · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:05 a few years ago when my laboratory got interested in studying stress in humans we asked ourselves what are the patterns of breathing that allow for the most rapid reduction in stress levels and more importantly what are the patterns of breathing that can be done in real time so that people can adjust their stress while they're still engaging in life right breath work classes running off to excellent for a weekend is a magical experience but life demands pressing on you that's typically when you feel stressed so it is still true that vacation long meditation retreats and massages or a nice drink if you're of drinking age still work but they're slow and they take you offline the physiological side is a pattern of breathing that was actually discovered by physiologists in the 30s and that was essentially rediscovered by professor jack feldman at ucla a world expert in the neurobiology of respiration and by my colleague mark

0:58 krasnow at stanford who studies lung function the physiological side is a pattern of breathing that we all engage in in deep sleep when levels of carbon dioxide in our bloodstream get too high we or our dogs you can see your dog do this we'll do a double inhale followed by an extended exhale children or or adults for that matter that are sobbing and lose their breath so to speak we'll also do a double inhale exhale that's the spontaneous execution of what we call the physiological psi the reason it works so well to relax us is because it offloads a lot of carbon dioxide all at once and the way it works is the following our lungs are not just two big bags of air we have all these little millions of sacks of air that if we were to lay them out flat they would be as big as about a tennis court or so the volume of air therefore and the volume of carbon dioxide that we can offload is tremendously high except that we get

1:58 stressed as carbon dioxide builds up on our bloodstream and is kind of a double whammy these little sacs deflate now when we do a double inhale so i'll do this now twice through my nose or you could do this or you could do it through your mouth but it works best for your nose it's inhale and then you sneak a little bit more air in at the very end when you do that you re-inflate those little sacs and when you exhale then you discard all the carbon dioxide at once so the simple way to describe this protocol is that unless you are under water you do a double inhale followed by an extended exhale and you offload the maximum amount of carbon dioxide and we found in our laboratory and other laboratories have found that just one two or three of those physiological size brings your level of stress down very very fast and it's a tool that you know you can use anytime i do hope that people kind of watch other people or dogs as they

2:57 start to relax or go down to sleep you'll see this pattern of breathing but again it can be consciously driven the other thing about breathing and the reason why exhales are so vital is the following i know there's a lot of interest nowadays in heart rate variability well most people don't realize this but your breathing is actually driving heart rate variability so when you inhale this dome shaped muscle beneath your lungs your diaphragm actually moves down because the lungs expand it moves down when you do that you create more space in the thoracic cavity and you actually the heart gets a little bigger it actually expands as a consequence blood flows more slowly through that larger volume and the brain quickly sends a signal down to the heart to speed the heart up the short simple version of this is inhales speed the heart up when you exhale the opposite is true that dome-shaped muscle the diaphragm

3:51 moves up the space in your thoracic cavity gets a little bit smaller the heart gets a little bit smaller blood moves more quickly through that small volume and the brain sends a signal to the heart to slow the heart down physicians know this as respiratory sinus arrhythmia but this is the basis of what we call hrv heart rate variability and the simple way to remember this is anytime you emphasize exhales in other words making them longer than your inhales you are slowing the heart rate down you're calming your system anytime you emphasize inhales you make them more vigorous or longer than your exhales you're speeding up your heart

4:47 you

Questions about this episode

What is "Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Physiological Sigh" about?

In this episode, Dr. Andrew Huberman explains the physiological sigh, a natural breathing pattern of a double inhale followed by a long exhale that rapidly offloads carbon dioxide and reduces stress in real time. He draws on research from his lab and experts at UCLA and Stanford, and describes how breathing drives heart rate variability, with longer exhales slowing the heart and calming the…

What is mentioned in this Tim Ferriss episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Jack Feldman, Mark Krasnow, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Physiological Sigh, UCLA. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Physiological Sigh"?

The episode runs 5 min; the transcript is about 803 words in 6 timestamped sections.

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