Shitali Pranayama: The Cooling Breath for Heat and Pitta

It lowers the oral temperature, makes the saliva cool, helps to quench thirst, and improves digestion, absorption, and assimilation. Shitali is effective for high blood pressure, burning throat or tongue, and a burning sensation in the eyes. It cools the entire body. If you can’t curl your tongue into a tube, an alternative way to perform shitali is with your teeth lightly clenched together and your tongue pressed up against the teeth.

The air is then inhaled through the teeth. Some people feel pain when cool air is drawn through the teeth; keeping your tongue against your teeth will provide warmth and prevent this discomfort. BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA (BREATH OF FIRE) This breathing exercise increases the vital capacity of the lungs, relieves allergies and asthma, and helps make the lungs strong and healthy. It also heats the body.

Inhale passively (through the nose), but exhale actively and with a little force. Start slowly and increase the speed. Imagine a steam locomotive moving slowly and picking up speed. Do one round of 30 strokes or exhalations, then rest for one minute.

You can do up to five such rounds of bhastrika in the morning and five in the evening. SHITALI PRANAYAMA (COOLING BREATH) BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA (BREATH OF FIRE) BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA (HUMMING BREATH) On inhalation, constrict the epiglottis so as to create a humming sound. On exhalation, the sound is long and low. The inhalation, which is more high-pitched, is traditionally said to be like a female bee; the exhalation, which has a deeper sound, like a male bee.

If you find it difficult to make the humming sound on the inhalation, just inhale naturally, take a deep breath into the belly, and then do the humming on the exhalation. When doing bhramari, touch the tip of your tongue lightly to the edge of the soft palate near the back of the roof of your mouth. Be sure the teeth are not clenched. Bhramari improves the melodiousness of the voice.