Sheetali Pranayama: Unlocking Calmness and Balance

In my third post of the breathing exercises series, I will be covering sheetali pranayama and how it helps with anxiety, stress, gastric issues, and hypertension.

Sheetali pranayama is an easy and fun breathing exercise in yoga that helps improve our physical and mental health! Specifically, this pranayama is beneficial as it helps reduce acidity, anxiety, skin inflammation, hypertension, and stress. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this exercise can’t be performed by people who have respiratory issues, colds, arthritis, and joint pain.

Interestingly, this pranayama emphasises the importance of homeostasis in our body. Specifically, it focuses on balancing the body’s acid levels and amount of internal heat. When both of these are imbalanced, we tend to have acidity (or other gastric issues) coupled with anxiety and stress (as our gut health is closely linked to our mental health). And as sheetali pranayama has a cooling effect that can balance the level of heat and acidity in our body, this exercise is specifically recommended for those suffering from acidity, skin inflammation, and hypertension. Recuperating from these issues will automatically lead to a significant decrease in anxiety and stress.

Now, to perform sheetali pranayama, the first step is to be seated in the dhyana position. That is, you should be seated in the cross-legged position. Once you are comfortable and ready, the next step is to fold your tongue and extend as far as comfortably possible. Try and ensure that when you fold your tongue, you leave enough of a gap between the two folds for air to be able to enter. Once you are ready, start the pranayama by inhaling through your folded tongue; and when you have inhaled, exhale through your nostrils. Repeat this process 5 to 10 times. It’s generally recommended to perform this pranayama daily to reap the benefits for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Furthermore, you should try and ensure that you’re performing this pranayama slowly.

Please note that it is best to start this pranayama by inhaling for shorter periods of time, and then gradually increasing this as you get more comfortable. And if you’re facing too much discomfort from the pranayama, please avoid performing this exercise for a few days. This will give your body time to recover, and you will also notice that the benefits reaped after taking a break for a few days have significantly improved.

So, here’s how to perform one of the unique pranayamas in yoga! I hope you enjoyed learning about an interesting concept in yoga, and how sheetali pranayama contributes to introducing homeostasis in your body. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next post!