Now Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop says SIGHING is a form of therapy…

Breathe in, breathe out.  

We’ve long been told it’s the key to calming down.

And evidence suggests that deep breathing not only reduces anxiety but can also lower blood pressure and ward off heart disease. 

However, it’s not just long meditations that have an effect. 

Wellness gurus at Goop are now suggesting that sighing can reduce anxiety symptoms and calm you down in minutes. 

Wellness gurus at Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop have touted cyclical sighing as a way to lower anxiety levels

Cyclical sighing has been shown to lower anxiety levels and improve positive mood in research from Stanford University

The wellness site – which is owned and run by health nut and Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow – recently published an article entitled; ‘Sighing Is an Effective Breathwork Technique, according to Researchers’.

The article went on to detail a study, by researchers at Stanford University, about the mental health effects of cyclical sighing, a breathing exercise that involves exhaling for long periods of time. 

In the study, 111 healthy volunteers were asked to perform one of three types of breathing exercises for fives minutes every day over the course of a month – and compared their mental health to a group doing mindfulness mediation, as well as a control.

Before and after the experiment, the participants answered two online questionnaires: the State Anxiety Inventory, a standard anxiety measurement, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, a research tool that assesses good and bad feelings on a scale of 1 to 5.

The groups that practiced breathing exercises gained an average of 1.91 points per day on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scale compared 1.22 points for those who practiced mindfulness meditation. 

This was an improvement of one-third. 

Dr David Spiegel, lead study author and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral studies at Stanford University, said: ‘Controlled breathing exercises may have a more rapid, more direct effect on physiology than mindfulness.’

Christine Schneider, a manual voice specialist at The Visceral Voice, shared a clip to TikTok demonstrating cyclical sighing

Additionally, the researchers noted that cyclical sighing’s focus on slow exhalation could be more effective than other types of breathing exercises. 

Participants in the cyclical sighing group had the greatest daily improvement in positive feelings on their questionnaires, and the effect continued as the study went on. 

‘It ensures that you’re intentional with your inhale and exhale—the combination is key,’ Dr Denise John wrote for Goop. 

Dr Spiegel told Goop that cyclical sighing likely works because it emphasizes the  conscious sigh or longer exhale. 

This ensures you’re intentional with your breathes. 

‘What it’s doing is slowing your respiratory rate and potentially lowering your heart rate due to its parasympathetic activation, rather than sympathetic,’ Dr Spiegel told Goop.  

‘It’s a rapid way that we have of soothing ourselves.’

Though the study was a year ago, cyclical sighing is gaining traction in the wellness world and on social media. 

Christine Schneider, a manual voice specialist at The Visceral Voice, shared a clip to TikTok demonstrating cyclical sighing. 

‘It’s a longer inhalation followed by a quick inhalation and then a long sighed exhalation,’ she said. 

‘It’s recommended to do this for about five minutes, though you should feel an impact after just few.’

In her video, Ms Schneider closes her eyes, inhales for several seconds, quickly breathes out, and then lets out a longer breath. 

To try cyclical sighing, Goop recommends five steps. 

The first step is to get comfortable, either by sitting down or lying down. 

From there, slowly inhale through your nose as you fully expand your belly before briefly stopping.

Keep inhaling by expanding your chest to completely fill your chest. Then exhale through your mouth or nose slowly.

Repeat this for five minutes. 

However, Dr Spiegel said that if you have another breathing method that works for you, it’s okay to stick to it. ‘If you just take a few minutes each day to self-regulate and build your capacity to utilize control over your mind and body, you will feel better,’ he said.