Breaking the Anxiety Cycle

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Does the tension in your body trigger anxiety, or does anxiety lead to tension? Or do your thoughts about not having control and expecting others and life to treat you well lead to your anxious mood, tension, and defensive behavior? Regardless of whether your anxiety is driven by an automatic physical response or by inflexible and unhelpful thinking patterns, there is a way to break the downward cycle of tension, anxiety, thinking, and behavior.

If you struggle with anxiety, you are certainly not alone. Almost one in five people battle anxiety right now, and one in three will struggle at some point in their lifetime. One study found that 43% of adults in the United States reported feeling more anxious in 2024 than in 2023. It is safe to say that many of us are deeply concerned about personal safety, the environment, the political landscape, the impact of technology on daily life and culture, and our health.

The downside of our anxious response to stressors is that anxiety interferes with our abilities to adapt, think, problem-solve, and behave in ways that make things worse, not better. Fortunately, there is a way to interrupt the downward cycle of anxiety.

We usually think of our physical states like heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and physical tension throughout the body as under the total control of the autonomic nervous system.

While our physical state runs automatically and operates without conscious control to some degree, that is not the whole story. We can step into that automatic process and make helpful adjustments that will calm down the entire physical response to stress. When we calm our physical response to stress, we also reduce the impact our physical tension has on our emotional response of anxiety.

Better Health Through Better Breathing

Research at Stanford University compared a breathing style that mimics a deep sigh with two other breathing techniques and mindfulness meditation. The method researchers called cyclic sighing decreased anxiety over a one-month study and improved overall mood.

Cyclic sighing is relatively easy to learn but may take a few practice sessions to master. Here are the four basic steps to follow:

1. Inhalation—You will be taking in a double breath when you inhale through your nose. First, take a deep breath using your diaphragm. As you breathe in, your diaphragm will push down so your stomach goes out. Your upper chest should move little during this first inhalation. Immediately take a second breath and focus on expanding your upper chest as you inhale.
2. Exhalation—After inhaling, immediately open your mouth and slowly let out all of the air. To regulate the rate of air leaving your lungs, you might purse your lips and pretend you are gently blowing the flame of a candle so that it moves but does not blow out.
3. Duration—Start your practice of cyclic sighing with a goal of five minutes per day.
4. Setting—Look for a part of your day when you're typically not battling anxiety, so you can practice cyclic sighing in a relatively calm state. Your goal is to build a stronger mind-body connection that helps you override the automatic processes that ramp up tension and anxiety. Practicing in a relatively safe space during a quiet part of your day will help you create new neural pathways that regulate tension and emotions.

If you are looking for a way to manage stress and anxiety that does not include yet another medication, new device, another app, or financial expense, try cyclic sighing for one month. If you struggle with starting a new habit, check out this article on learning the seven steps to better habit formation.