Shilpa Sayana, MD explains the physiological sigh: two quick inhales followed by one long exhale, credited to Dr. Andrew Huberman. The video also covers mindfulness as a way to observe stress rather than react to it, helping manage cortisol levels.
What are some of the. Like. If you can give us, like one or three simple kind of things you take or you tell patients that really resonate with them on how to manage their stress response, because so much of it is exactly that.
So one of the tools I like to use is the physiological sigh. And I use this a lot for patients who have a tendency to err more on the anxiety side.
A sigh. Like a sigh.
A sigh. In fact, we do that naturally. You know, when you see children, when they cry, they. That sigh actually is a quick, you know, rapid, like. Yes. Activation of your parasympathetic nervous system. Which is a fancy way of saying the nervous system. The part of the nervous system that's responsible for resting and digesting. So the physiological side is. I'm going to credit Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neurologist, neuroscientist, who actually came up with it. It's actually two inhales and one long exhale. If you do it 3, 15 physiological size, you know, in consecutively, you usually feel a reduced sensations of stress or a marked reduction in sensations of stress.
I do feel better.
So that's one of the quick tools. But when it comes to stress, you know, at the end of the day, you can choose to be a reactor to the events that occur around you, or you can choose to be an observer and actually create the outcome that you want to create. And what way most people who are chronically stressed are reactors. Right. What I mean by that is they are just responding very quickly rather than slowing down. Says, hey, you know, is this something that needs this level of my attention? Right. You know, and mindfulness is one of the things I like to use on some people. They're not for everyone, because it does require some practice and it does require some introspection, which can be quite difficult for some people who've received trauma, actually.
Right, that makes sense. Managing stress is such a key, key facet of functional medicine. And a lot of times people just don't realize how much stress they're under and think this is just life. But it's so important to be aware. And next time you're in LA traffic, try the sign, because it could just help in terms of risk, because so many things, you just can't have control. It's like, how do you be in this place of acceptance and realize that at that moment? Because that can really help all these micro cortisol peaks that just keep happening in your day where cumulatively your cortisol is high.
