Nadi Shodhana Pranayama: How to Do It, Steps and Benefits

Transcript

[Laughter] namaste to all my name is pradeep from vinyasa yoga ashram i'm one of the yoga instructors there and today in this session we shall be talking further about pranayama today we shall be talking about one of the types of pranayama which is called nadi shodhan pranayama it is also said to be anulom villain and english translation of this pranama is alternative nostril breeding so as this translation easily suggests that what does it mean so let me quickly first demonstrate this and give you the method that how to practice this so for this question for any breathing technique or mental practice you must be in a very comfortable position you can use chair you can sit using a pillow on your back you can use a wall but make sure your spine is straight and you are not stressed in the position once you have found the position you can place your hand onto the knees either facing up you can also perform a gesture called chin or jhana mudra with your one hand with your right hand you will make the gesture here this is a modification of the gesture traditionally according to the text the gesture we make for nadi shodhan pranayama where you fold your index and middle finger at the base of the thumb and your wrist finger and thumb are away this gesture is called vishnu mudra or prana mudra as well once you have this gesture you make sure you make this gesture when you are going to block the nostril before you start practicing this pranayama you make sure you are comfortable not only with the posture but with breathing at the same time once you have found the pace of your breathing which is calm and you have regulated your breath in a nice way which has calmed yourself down even before practicing this then you can start this practice by blocking the right nostril with the thumb first and inhale through the left nostril so you will inhale through the left nostril you'll block the nostril and you'll exhale from the other nostril [Music] you inhale from the same nostril that you exhale from then you'll block the nostril and exhale from the other nostril this is one round let me repeat inhale from one nostril switch after you inhale exhale from the other nostril [Music] inhale from the same nostril where you exhale from [Music] and switch after you inhale and exhale from the other nostril make sure when you're performing this breathing you're not trying to breathe too fast try to breathe slower than your regular pace most importantly if you can try to breathe abdominally abdominal breath will allow you to calm yourself even more because one of the advantages of practicing this pranayama is to calm yourself physically and physiologically when i say physiological calmness i mean by calming down your heart rate calming down your breathing rate and making a nervous system also become calmer which can help your mind also focus better and will not make you feel stimulated and energized for no reason you will have energy level at its best but from within you'll still remain calm there are several benefits of this practice nadi shodhan pranayama as this name itself suggests nadi shodhan where the word nadi is the energy channels or the pathways into the body that carries the prana throughout the body this practice also cleanses those nadis and it helps you let the prana or the energy into the body which is which brings life into you it allows that energy to flow throughout the body which helps you rejuvenate your whole body at at its best further it also balances your both nostril as you know that we have two nostrils and they keep on switching their job since one nostril gets drive when they work overtime so we have a wonderful function into the body which switches these nostrils which is known as nasal cycle and you can also notice that during the day it takes around 60 to 90 minutes to switch between the nostrils and sometimes it can change quickly or maybe it could take more time alternating nostril breathing or knowledge shouldn't pronamer it allows you to balance those nostrils which allows you to breathe equally from both muscle and that really helps you calm your breath down because when you have nostril you when you're breathing through one nostril it can make your breathing becomes a little suffocated but having your both nostrils wide and helping you breathe from growth mostly really calms you down and allows your breath to settle down so comfortably further this this pranayama practice is also very good for people suffering from any mental disease any psychosomatic disease could be cured by this planema because this doesn't let your mind bother and it really makes your mind become very much focused and concentrated it can also balance your hormones and blood pressure even if a person is suffering from high blood pressure problem or hypertension we call it this practice can really help him bring the blood pressure down to the point where his physiological function work properly and you can read so many benefits of this practice many ways but i believe more in experiencing so make sure you practice this at least five to ten minutes every day and the best time to practice of course this early in the morning or evening make sure you don't practice it as a warm-up for any vigorous exercise rather you practice it as a calming breathing and the best time also to practice this before you go to sleep this can really help you calm yourself down otherwise the best time would be early in the morning now generally there are not many contraindications or precautions we should take but when you have some illnesses like fever or cold in such conditions we are supposed to avoid this otherwise this practice could be done by any person as long as you can breathe comfortably you can breathe in this way and this could really help you give you a wonderful and different experience physically mentally and physiologically so thank you very much i hope you understood the use of this pranayama and i hope you will bring this into your day life practice [Music] namaste