Stress | Research
The Five-Minute Breathing Exercise That Beat Meditation in a Stanford Study
A slow, double-inhale breath called the cyclic sigh lifted mood and calmed the body in just five minutes a day.
Most advice on stress takes time you do not have. This one takes five minutes.
In a study published in 2023, researchers at Stanford tested a handful of simple breathing exercises against mindfulness meditation. One stood out.
What the researchers tested
The study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, asked healthy adults to spend five minutes a day for a month on one of four practices: cyclic sighing, box breathing, cyclic hyperventilation, or mindfulness meditation.
Participants recorded their mood each day, and wore a device that tracked breathing and heart rate.
All of the practices helped. Breathing exercises improved mood more than meditation, and cyclic sighing, which puts the emphasis on a long exhale, showed the largest gain in positive mood and the biggest drop in breathing rate at rest.
Why the exhale matters
Your heart rate rises slightly every time you breathe in and falls when you breathe out. Making the exhale longer than the inhale tilts that balance toward calm.
The double inhale in a cyclic sigh helps reopen small air sacs in the lungs, which lets you take a fuller breath before the long, slow release.
How to do it
- Sit or lie down comfortably.
- Breathe in through your nose until your lungs feel nearly full.
- Take a second, shorter breath in through your nose to top them up.
- Breathe out slowly through your mouth, for as long as is comfortable, until your lungs feel empty.
- Repeat for five minutes.
It works anywhere: at your desk, in the car before you walk into the house, or in bed when your mind will not settle.
What it is not
The study was small and ran for one month, so it shows a short-term effect in healthy adults. Breathing exercises are a useful tool, not a treatment for anxiety disorders or depression. If stress is affecting your daily life, talk to a doctor.