Free tool
The two-minute reset
A guided breathing exercise you can do at your desk between meetings or after a page. Press start and follow along.
Ready when you are
How to do it without the timer
- Breathe in slowly through your nose.
- When your lungs feel full, take one more short sip of air.
- Let it all out slowly through your mouth, for longer than you breathed in.
- Repeat for about two minutes.
Stop and breathe normally if you feel dizzy or uncomfortable. If you have a heart or lung condition, or you're pregnant, check with your clinician before making breathing exercises a habit. This is a general wellness exercise, not medical treatment.
What the research shows, and what it doesn't
This pattern is called cyclic sighing. In a 2023 randomized trial published in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers compared it with two other breathing practices and with mindfulness meditation, using five minutes a day for a month. Breathing practices improved mood more than mindfulness did, with the largest benefit from cyclic sighing. The authors concluded it "has promise as an effective stress management exercise."
Some caution is in order. It's one study with about 100 participants, of whom 27 were in the cyclic sighing group. It wasn't a study of engineers or workplaces, and it used five minutes a day. Two minutes is our shorter, more practical version, and it hasn't been tested on its own. The pace in this pacer is also our choice. Treat it as something to test for yourself.
When to use it
- Before a difficult conversation or review
- Between back-to-back meetings
- After a stressful page, before trying to sleep
- Any time you notice your shoulders have crept up around your ears
Want to do this with your team?
Breathing is one small part of what we teach. Our guided relaxation sessions and burnout workshops cover practical skills for recognizing, regulating and recovering from stress, live with a licensed therapist.