Oddbean new post about | logout
 Have you tried box breathing? Inhale for 3 actual seconds, hold for 3, exhale for three. Make that count slower, especially in the holding section. Nice practice to just be in the moment, staying calm and you can even practice&make it more challenging it while walking. 
 Also hold for 3 after exhaling 
 that youtuber huberman also suggests for similar things "physiological sigh" which i have almost fully conditioned myself to use

it's like, you are breathing in, and then you suddenly suck in twice as hard

only takes a few rounds

according to this huberman, it has a dramatically high success rate at reducing anxiety, i think my own experience validates this, to the point where anxiety is no longer a problem for me at all, only depression, i observe myself doing this second suck-in unconsciously all the time so much it is clear i have programmed my nervous system to do this automatically now

if you have ever lived with dogs, you may have heard them do this double-breath thing, i always used to find it odd, but now, i do it! 
 btw, the way it works is that our lungs are like a bad, and this sudden extra vacuum makes it inflate more and take in a lot more air than normal 
 So kind of like a deep breath followed by a secondary one? 
 yeah, the second one is really short and hard, thus "physiological sigh" when you do it you swell and relax your ribcage fast 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZKIupBUuc

from what i've listened to about what he says, they proved it with proper studies that this technique is objectively effective 
 Ooo thanks for sharing the video 
 it definitely helped me, like i said somewhere else in this thread... i started doing it and now i catch myself doing it unconsciously, so it becomes a permanent habit once you start, similar to belly breathing

I WISH THESE THINGS FIXED MORE THAN JUST MY SENSE OF CALM THO

but that helps a lot

maybe i'll finally find some reason and way to end up somewhere i can smoke dank skunk every day, it feels like the only thing i'm missing 
 Completely forgot about the second breath aspect 🙌 
 I will definitely use this technique 🫂 
 Your emotional state will influence your breating, but your breathing can also influence your emotional and physiological responses.  Some sources if you want to dive further. Hope all goes well 🫂🙏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8TH8hZ-48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4m_PdFbu-s