Perform a physiological sigh by taking two deep inhales through the nose (one long, then a quick sharp second inhale) to maximally inflate your lungs, followed by a full exhale through the mouth until lungs are completely empty. This is the fastest known way to reduce stress in real-time and rebalance your autonomic nervous system, as it optimally balances oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Practice cyclic sighing for five minutes daily, regardless of the time of day. This involves repeatedly performing the physiological sigh (two deep nasal inhales, followed by a long mouth exhale) to achieve the greatest reductions in chronic stress, improve mood, and enhance sleep quality around the clock.
First, perform a carbon dioxide tolerance test by timing a controlled, slow nasal exhale after a deep nasal inhale (low: <20s, moderate: 25-45s, high: >50s). Then, practice box breathing (equal duration inhale, hold, exhale, hold) for 2-3 minutes, once or twice per week, using intervals corresponding to your tolerance (e.g., 3, 5-6, or 8-10 seconds). This exercise improves diaphragmatic control and shifts your resting breathing pattern to be deeper, less frequent, and more efficient, reducing brain hyper-excitability and improving sleep.
Strive to breathe exclusively through your nose whenever you are not speaking, eating, or engaging in strenuous exercise. Nasal breathing increases resistance, allowing for greater lung inflation, warms and moisturizes inhaled air for better lung health, and produces nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels for improved nutrient delivery and congestion relief.
To improve nighttime nasal breathing and reduce sleep apnea or snoring, consciously practice pure nasal breathing during daytime activities like walking or working, or by using medical tape to keep your mouth shut during sleep. This trains your system to become a better nasal breather, transferring positive patterns to sleep and improving overall health and aesthetics.
To quickly decrease your heart rate, make your exhales longer and/or more vigorous than your inhales. Conversely, to increase your heart rate, inhale longer and more vigorously relative to your exhales, leveraging the direct relationship between breathing and heart rate to rapidly adjust your physiological state.
When engaging in activities that require focus, learning, or memory retrieval (e.g., reading, studying, listening), consciously increase the duration or intensity of your inhales. Inhalation enhances brain activity in areas related to memory, improves reaction time, and increases the ability to detect novel stimuli.
To generate maximum power and speed in voluntary movements, such as striking or swinging, perform the movement during an active exhale. Exhalation is known to greatly enhance the ability to generate fast, directed volitional movements.
To stop hiccups, take three consecutive inhales through the nose without exhaling in between, then hold your breath for 15-20 seconds, and slowly exhale. This hyper-excites and then hyper-polarizes the phrenic nerve, which is responsible for hiccups, stopping its spasm.
If you experience a cramp on your right side during exercise, perform the physiological sigh (two deep nasal inhales followed by a long mouth exhale) two or three times while continuing your activity. This alleviates the referenced pain by adjusting phrenic nerve activity and sensory feedback from the diaphragm and liver.
When entering very cold water, consciously control your breathing to make it rhythmic (alternating inhales and exhales), even if fast. This helps to override the default panicky response and navigate the stressful circumstance more calmly, a skill that translates to other life stressors.
For self-induced stress inoculation, perform cyclic hyperventilation (25 deep nasal inhales followed by passive or active mouth exhales, then exhale all air and hold breath for 15-30 seconds) for five minutes, one to two times per week. This deliberately increases adrenaline and epinephrine, teaching you to maintain a calm mind and body under stress, but should be avoided near water or if prone to anxiety/panic attacks.
Dissolve one packet of Element (sodium, magnesium, potassium without sugar) in 16-32 ounces of water first thing in the morning and during any physical exercise. This ensures adequate hydration and electrolyte balance, which is critical for optimal brain and body function and prevents diminished cognitive and physical performance.
Take Athletic Greens (now AG1) once or twice a day to get necessary probiotics for gut health and a range of adaptogens, vitamins, and minerals. This supports overall foundational nutritional needs and gut microbiota health, impacting immune system, hormone system, and brain function.
If experiencing headache or shortness of breath at high altitude, consciously try to draw in larger breaths of air. This helps your body adapt more quickly to the lower air pressure and increased effort required for breathing, alleviating symptoms like lightheadedness and disorientation.