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The Healf Source
The Psychology Of The Sigh
How Manoj Dias, co-founder of Open in LA, harnesses breathwork to transform mental and physical wellbeing.
Written by: Currie Engel Weber
Written on: July 20, 2026
This piece originally appeared in The Source: The Anti-Optimisation Issue, Healf's print magazine.
Despite what his adoring followers may think, Manoj Dias is not a guru. Sure, he’s worked with and learned from gurus before — especially within his practice in the Tibetan Buddhism system. But he’s not one of them. At least, not yet.
Historically, the honorific holds a lot of depth and meaning. And in Dias’ view, the way we use the term today is a bit misguided. The word, which is derived from Sanskrit words for “heavy” or “venerable”, only started being used in the English language around the time of Napoleon. Originally, it referred to a counsellor or guide who helped to mould values and knowledge — someone who helped reveal the true meaning of life.
“I’m just not that,” Dias says as we chat over video on an unseasonably cold May afternoon. “I’m just not that enlightened. I feel like I’m, like, 2% of the way there.”
Despite co-founding one of the most popular modern mindfulness studios in California, Open, and becoming a leading mindfulness teacher and consultant, Dias is firm on this point: he’s still very much a student, someone who still has a lot to learn from Eastern culture and spiritual traditions. Someone who has not had the kind of spiritual awakening or discovered the inner peace and transcendence from suffering that is supposed to come with that elusive state of enlightenment.
But he’s working on it. And along the way, he’s sharing what he learns with the rest of us — the principles that quiet his body, and practices that calm his brain.
This is where breathwork takes centre stage. The ancient practice is not the same as meditation, although both are essential and work synchronously with each other. The breath becomes a gateway “At a high level, one is manipulating the breath, actively engaging it. One is more observing the breath, paying attention to it,” Dias says.
It’s an unbelievably simple and practical way to wrest hold of our brains — quelling waves of stress and resetting our nervous systems. “We’re able to regulate our nervous system using our breath. [When we do], we just feel more in our bodies, we feel calmer, we feel more connected,” Dias says.
In some ways, the practice can be almost spiritual. We carry our breath with us every moment of every day, he points out, inhaling and exhaling tens of thousands of times. The problem is, we aren’t paying nearly enough attention. And if we are, it’s often focused on the all wrong things: images and videos on social media of shirtless men running up ice mountains and women in matching sets meditating in their spotless home gyms. “For the average person, that just doesn’t connect,” says Dias. “It makes it much more niche, as opposed to making it something that’s so accessible and something we already do to some extent.”
The reality is, breathwork can be transformative for every part of your physical and mental wellbeing. But it’s not a quick fix to our hustle culture or a productivity tool to biohack your way to longer workdays — and once you stop thinking of it as such, you’ll truly reap the benefits. “I think of breathwork as a Trojan horse for everything else,” says Dias.
How to Do the Physiological Sigh:
You may have heard this term from a Huberman podcast. But it’s not some brand-new discovery or profound breakthrough — in fact, you’ve been doing the physiological sigh since the day you were born. Simply put, it’s a double inhale through the nose, followed by a long, slow exhale through the mouth. “When we cry, our body is innately regulating our nervous system,” says Dias. That hiccuping inhale and exhale follows the same principle.
Whether you’re needing a mental break between meetings or looking for a built-in escape route when you’re feeling overstimulated, the physiological sigh can be harnessed as a helping hand for your nervous system at any time. No equipment, no app, just your body and your breath. Here’s how to do it:
Deep inhale
Inhale deeply through your nose, allowing the air to fill your lungs as your belly expands and your diaphragm drops.
Sharp second inhale
Without exhaling, take a second, short inhale to fully expand your lungs and fill up the tiny air sacs called alveoli.
Slow exhale
Slowly exhale through your mouth, letting your lungs empty fully, dispelling carbon dioxide and pulling you out of fight-or-flight. Your brain signals to your heart to beat more slowly.
And again...
Repeat this a few times until you feel calm. Dias likes to do physiological breathing before bed, for one or two minutes.
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This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of Healf
Currie Engel Weber is the Editorial Lead at Healf. She is an award-winning journalist and editor, and former News & Features editor at Women's Health Magazine in New York. She has written for outlets like The New York Times, Wired, Business Insider, Women's Health. Currie loves writing about the intersection of women's health and culture.
