A 15-Second Reset for Overwhelmed Managers

Last week, I spoke with a manager who had just taken on a new team.

She told me:

“It feels like I’m walking into every meeting with my heart already racing. There’s too much to do, too many people looking to me, and no space to breathe.”

I know that feeling. Most managers in tech do.
The demands pile up. The calendar is overflowing. Every conversation feels high stakes.

And here’s the problem: when your body is wound up, leadership gets harder. Anxiety narrows your thinking. You slip into reactive mode. You lose the ability to listen deeply, communicate clearly, or show up with calm authority.

That’s why this week’s lesson isn’t about frameworks or strategy.
It’s about a tool you can use in real time, whenever the pressure spikes.
A 10–15 second reset. Backed by Stanford research. Available to anyone.

It’s called the physiological sigh.

The physiological sigh is a natural breathing pattern your body already uses, often during sleep, to release stress and rebalance oxygen and carbon dioxide in your lungs.

Andrew Huberman and colleagues at Stanford found that a structured version—called cyclic sighing—not only lowers anxiety but can improve mood more than mindfulness meditation. In their 2023 study, just five minutes a day produced bigger gains in positive emotion than meditation.

But here’s the beauty: you don’t need five minutes.
Even one or two repetitions can calm your nervous system instantly.

How to Use It:

Here’s how:

1. Inhale deeply through your nose. Fill your lungs.

2. Take a second, shorter inhale. This tops off the air sacs that didn’t fully inflate.

3. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Push all the air out.

That’s it. Double inhale, long exhale.

Try it before a big meeting, while waiting for Zoom to load, or at the start of a team check-in. One or two physiological sighs can reset not just you, but the whole room.

Managers are under more pressure than ever, especially when you’re leading a new team. You can’t always control the demands. But you can control how you show up in the moment.

This week, practice the physiological sigh. Start with yourself. Then experiment with opening a meeting by leading your team through one together.

It’s fast. It’s free. And it works.

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear what changes when you give yourself (and your team) a breath.

— Jeff