Welcome.
We will be practicing a cooling breath exercise.
This cooling calming breathing exercise is based on an ancient yogic technique called Shitali Pranayama.
Shitali or Sitali literally means the cooling breath.
To perform this exercise you need to be able to roll your tongue in a tube-like form.
Rolling the tongue here is said to mimic a green leaf on curling or the beak of a bird.
These are the kind of images that you can visualize once you get the hang of this exercise.
So first let's find a comfortable seat.
Keeping your back straight and taking in some nice full deep breaths.
Deeping firmly and fully for a few moments here.
Slowly begin to modify your breathing to become deeper and more profound.
Pushing the breath right down to your belly and up through your chest.
Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose.
Now open your mouth into an O shape.
If you can,
Poke out your tongue and curl it into a U shape lengthwise.
Now inhale through the curled up tongue as if it were a drinking straw.
Feel the coolness of the air as it travels through your system.
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
We're going to repeat this pattern for eight more breaths.
This is the cooling breath.
Open your mouth into an O shape,
Curling your tongue into a U.
Inhaling through the curled tongue,
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
Repeat.
Open your mouth into an O shape,
Curling your tongue into a U.
Inhale through the curled tongue.
Feel the coolness of the air.
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
Open your mouth into an O shape,
Curling your tongue into a U.
Inhale through the curled tongue,
Feel the coolness of the air.
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
Open your mouth into an O shape,
Curl your tongue into a U.
Inhale through the curled tongue,
Feel the coolness of the air.
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
Open your mouth into an O shape,
Curl your tongue into a U.
Inhale through the curled tongue,
Feel the coolness of the air.
Retract your tongue,
Close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
Do a few cycles on your own at your own rhythm.
Wonderful.
Come back into the room.
Gently finding some movement in the lower body and the hips.
Bringing your alertness and your awareness back into your space surrounding you.
This is a wonderful exercise to practice if you're feeling anxiety creep up,
Stress overwhelm and you can spend as little as two minutes or as long as ten minutes practicing the cooling breath exercise.
You should notice a difference in how you feel and even the physical aspects of your body will soften and relax.
Thank you and namaste.
