A short bout of deliberate fast, deep breathing followed by a breath hold, usually done seated or lying down and never near water or while driving. Common versions use about 25–30 forceful inhale-exhale cycles, sometimes repeated for a few rounds, then an exhale hold or full-lung hold. It’s used to spike sympathetic arousal and adrenaline, which can increase alertness and focus and may serve as a form of stress inoculation.
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“So what we've been doing in human subjects is having them do breathing protocols called cyclic hyperventilation, which is somewhat stressful. It's five minutes a day of stress... It involves inhale exhale inhale exhale very deep inhale through the nose exhale through the mouth. And then every 25 or 30 breaths or so doing a full exhale and holding one breath lungs empty for about 25 maybe 30 maybe even 60 seconds and then continuing until five minutes is up.”
huberman · Erasing Fears & Traumas Using Modern Neuroscience | Huberman Lab Essentials · Nov 6, 2025 · 28:30 · open ↗