The Art and Science of Nadi Shodhana Pranayama
The most vital yoga practice for your mind, mood, and creativity.
For many years, my least favorite practice was alternative nostril breath. Anytime a teacher suggested it, I internally groaned. I found it awkward, fussy and hard to coordinate. It felt like work. Inevitably, my arm and shoulder would get tired and tight. Meanwhile my brain chanting. “Am I doing this right, am I doing this right?” Where was the relaxation I was promised?
Admittedly, I still at times find it fussy.
Now, however I understand how pivotal this practice is in tailoring any yoga session to what I need. Like magic or medicine, it’s the key to mood and energy management. While all of the breathing practices we learn in any given yoga class might give us some sense of an altered effect- as we work with our parasympathetic and sympathetic systems- the ancient traditions of pranayama are for refining an awareness of consciousness, our subtle energetic body.
In Sanskrit, “prana” means life energy. Prana is everywhere in everything. According to ancient yogic texts, Prana is our vital life force carried within the breath. It is what animates our being and nourishes our subtle essence. It moves through the subtle energetic pathways, a network of 72,000 nadis (channels) that interweave at the Chakras. While this is perhaps all very enigmatic and can be hard to make sense of, it can be felt. Perhaps you have felt a pulsing or tingling or inexplicable sensation while in a yoga session…this is likely prana. It’s the subtle body at play.
Fine-Tuning Your Practice: The Therapeutics of Right and Left Nostril Breathing.
What we first learn as alternate nostril breath focuses on shifting the stream of air from one nostril to the other, repeatedly on the inhale and the exhale. There, we can establish a rhythm with our breath that creates balance and steadiness, a soothing equilibrium. When we work with the breath and engage the respiratory tract, the nose and nostrils are essential in engaging the nervous system.
One study published by the National Library of Medicine, has shown while practicing right nostril breathing, oxygen levels increased significantly in the left prefrontal cortex, conversely left nostril breathing increased oxygen levels in the right prefrontal cortex. These findings underscore the profound impact that our breath and the manipulation of prana can have on our mental and physical well-being. This is exactly why the practices of Nadi Shodhana Pranayama have also been dubbed brain breathing.
The WHY
In yoga we so often get the “how to,” but not often the why. Perhaps it’s because the western perspective on yoga is very anatomical and clinical, while the mystery and magic resides in the more esoteric traditional practices of this ancient therapy.
I fell in love with Nadi Shodhana through a deeper understanding in how directing the awareness of breath through either the right or left nostril, I could change the effect. By focusing on right nostril breathing I could, break-up low energy stagnation or by focusing on the left - calm my restlessness.
Similar to Eastern concepts of yin and yang, energies intertwine as masculine and feminine principles in each of us. The movement of energy is the core of our yoga and breathing practices. With special attention given to the right nostril/solar (pingala) and the left nostril/lunar (ida) channels, we can fine tune this pranayama for therapeutic effect. Our own ability to shift energy, clear the stagnation and dissipate any blocks can bring a transformative healing, one breath at a time.
The How
Vishnu Mudra: Fold your peace fingers in, keeping your pinky, ring and thumb extended. Keep the hand relaxed and frame the nose so that you can gently close one nostril and breath in through the opposite. Then follow the instructions below:
Surya Bhedana Pranayama: Solar piercing
Right Nostril Breathing
Heating, cleansing, energizing
*contraindications: afternoons, after meals, hot weather, high inflammatory conditions, menstruation, pregnancy.
Chandra Bhedana Pranayama: Lunar piercing
Left Nostril Breathing
Cooling, clarifying, calming
*contraindications: early mornings, after meals, cold weather, high vata and kapha conditions, high blood pressure, menstruation, pregnancy.
Pranayama is the art of refining our awareness of consciousness, a means to commune with our subtle energetic body. It's about orchestrating the flow of energy within us. With each breath, you have the power to find balance between the masculine and feminine energies within and to fine-tune your practice for therapeutic effects. You are tapping into the ancient wisdom of prana, the life force that pulses within you and connects you to the rhythm of the universe.
Yoga mind blown? Me too. Every flippin' day.
🤯🤯🤯
