28-Day Sighing
Four weeks of the Physiological Sigh, five minutes every day. How a day of the program goes, who it suits and which study it is based on.
4 min read
28-Day Sighing is a program that keeps track of you doing the Physiological Sigh every day for four weeks. Five minutes a day, the same technique every day. The idea is to build a short, easy daily habit.
How a day goes
The program's session sits at the top of the technique list. You can start it from there or from Do today's session on the Programs screen. Breathe in through your nose, add a second short inhale on top before your lungs are full, then breathe out through your mouth, long and slow. When the time is up, that day's session is done.
The technique and the length stay the same for the whole program. The suggested length is five minutes, and you can change it when you set the program up.
Who it suits
It's a good first program for someone new to breathing exercises: the technique is short, easy to learn, and five minutes fits into most days. It suits anyone who wants to do one small thing at the same time every day and keep it going.
To set up the program, the Physiological Sigh needs to be unlocked. If it isn't yet, Unlocking techniques tells you what it takes.
Two inhales stacked on top of each other is an unusual movement. If you feel a little dizzy in the first sessions, stop, take a few ordinary breaths and start again when you're ready.
How to set the program up, what happens when you miss a day and what you see at the end are in Setting up a program and keeping it.
What it is based on
The program follows the practice used in the study Balban and colleagues published in Cell Reports Medicine in 2023. Participants did either a breathing exercise or mindfulness meditation for five minutes every day for a month. The cyclic sighing group showed the biggest rise in mood measures, and their breathing rate at rest also dropped the most.
The program's length and daily dose come from this study. The study measured a group's average and doesn't promise any result for one person. Its limits are explained in the technique's article.
- Balban et al. (2023), Cell Reports Medicine — "Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal". Full text