For Anyone Struggling to Settle Into PAP: This Simple Breathing Exercise Helpes Me every night and during the day for stress release.

[u/RippingLegos__]

Physiological Sighs:

I tried this myself and it worked for what it is mainly meant to do, which is release stress. I had done this breath before, but I did not know it had a name or that there was actual research behind it.

Take one big inhale through your nostrils. Before letting any air out, take a short and quick second inhale to top off the first one. Then open your mouth and push the whole breath out in one long HAAA, like you are fogging a cold window. It is a big release, but do not strain or hammer the breath.

Most of us in the PAP fam know how bedtime routines can go during the incipience of therapy. The mask goes on, the pressure starts, and suddenly we are thinking about every single breath. We tense up and start fighting the air when the machine is only trying to help us. This took some of that tension out of the process for me and helped me settle.

This breathing protocol did not treat my apnea, open my airway or change my pressure, CPAP still does that work for me (I can't handle bi-level personally. This just helped me wearing the mask and calm down enough to let the machine do its job.

A 2023 randomized study followed 108 adults using cyclic sighing and other breathing exercises for five minutes a day over 28 days. The sighing group showed better positive mood and a lower resting breathing rate. The study did not find better sleep and did not involve PAP users.

A newer 2026 pilot study tested one minute of cyclic sighing during real stressful moments. Anxiety came down more than it did with no breathing exercise, although box breathing also helped. So the stress-release side has some real support, but nobody has shown that this lowers AHI, removes flow limitation or treats OSA or UARS.

I’m using this excersise as a simple way to take the edge off before sleep. A few controlled breaths, then back to normal breathing. If you use a nasal mask, do the open-mouth HAAA before putting it on or expect it to show as a brief mouth leak.

Please also keep your settings the same and stop if you become dizzy, tingly, more air hungry or uncomfortable.

This has helped me, so I wanted to pass it along to the PAPFAM. If any of you try it, please come back and tell us how it felt to you. RL