Breath Of Fire: Kapalabhati To Energize And Clear The Mind

Breath of Fire, or kapalabhati, is a rapid rhythmic pranayama — sharp exhales through the nose, passive inhales, the navel drawing in with each breath. Kapala means skull, bhati means shining. The practice is named for what it does: it clears the mind the way light clears a room.

Use it to wake up without caffeine, burn off brain fog and sluggishness, build inner heat and focus, strengthen the diaphragm and core, or move stagnant energy before you settle into stillness.

You'll be guided through seated posture, a slow warm-up, and rounds of breath at your own pace with rest in between. Beginner friendly. Go slow and let the rhythm find you.

Practice type: guided pranayama and breathwork, seated.

Not suitable during pregnancy, menstruation, or with high blood pressure, heart conditions, epilepsy, glaucoma, hernia, or recent surgery. Stop if you feel lightheaded.

Transcript

So today we're gonna start out with just some deep breaths, And then I wanna go into breath of fire, Which can be kind of a tricky one, So we'll talk about that when we get there, But we're gonna start out by just tuning into our mats, 10 to 15 minutes guided meditation, Just to reset, Get ready for your Friday. So we'll inhale through the nose. Just some simple clearing breaths. We'll exhale, Side out the mouth. Option to close the eyes. Deep inhale sending the breath to belly. Then ribs. Then chest, Maybe taking one last sip of air at the top with your inhale. And exhale, Shying it out. Two more deep breaths just like this. Inhale, Belly. Rib. Bye. And exhale, Chest, Ribs. Belly last breath deep inhale option for that three-part breath Just making the breath deeper. And exhale, Option through nose or mouth, Release. Like I said, I want to get into breath of fire a bit today. Breath of fire, Traditionally done at the end of Bikram practices, Hot yoga, Your 24 plus two, Or is it 26 plus two? Anyways, Typically after Bikram, But it can be an energizing breath, Which is why I want to do it at five in the morning. Um but like i said it can be a little tricky so i spent some time at an ashram last fall and they said they don't do breath of fire there because it can Um. . . Facilitate a spontaneous kundalini awakening. I'd never heard that before but it makes sense after I heard it. So I'm also a trauma-informed yoga teacher which is what I'm getting at. When you're doing breath of fire, It will energize, Like I said, Kind of bring some awareness, Some energy into the body. But if you're ever feeling anxious with it or like it's overwhelming too much, Just dropping the breath of fire, Coming back to that three-part belly breath, Just allowing yourself to reset. And then if you want to jump back in or not, That's totally fine. But for our breath of fire, Option to bring one hand to belly. We're going to inhale deeply and it's kind of a rapid breath so it'll sound something like this. And then you almost like put your teeth together. Don't know if as you can see my hand on belly but the exhales or the inhales sorry are more involuntary they kind of just happen the exhales are more where you draw that belly in and kind of push that sound through the teeth so one more time is kind of how it looks like, But we're gonna go for a full minute of this, And then we're gonna end with some mantras, Some more cooling breath. Begin our energizing breath of fire. We'll inhale to prepare. Exhale to And we'll go for five. And one releasing that breath of fire option to exhale through the mouth I'm taking a big deep breath through the nose. I'm closing the eyes. Option to take our traditional mudra, Peace finger or pointer finger to thumb, Maybe bringing them to thigh. Closing the eyes, Noticing how that breath of fire settles into the body. Maybe you feel some tingles through the arms or the torso. Maybe you do feel a little more energized or the body feels more oxygenated. Taking a few moments, Noticing how that breath of fire settles into the body. Big part of yoga and mindfulness is creating or fostering that mind-body-soul relationship so tapping into that just acknowledging One more breath. Now we'll end, We'll keep the eyes closed if you want to blink them open for instruction you can. We'll end with that same mudra, Kind of our ever honing mudra if you will um and then we're going to end with a few deep breaths but i want to bring some mantra into it so like i said breath of fire can be a little intense so i want to cool us down round us out with some loving mantra so the mantra and mantra typically is in Sanskrit, The ancient yogic language, When we're reciting them in a yogic practice. We're going to do sat nam today as our mantra. Sat meaning I, Nam meaning am. So I am is typically the mantra, But the meaning behind that is kind of the idea of just being, You don't need to change yourself to exist, You don't need to change yourself to show up, Be productive, Be seen, All the things, Really just I am, I can be, I am how I'm showing up, I am who I am on this Friday, But kind of dropping that judgment, So satnam, I am, Could dive super into that, But 10-15 minute meditation. So we're going to inhale through the nose option again to keep that mudra maybe on thighs, Maybe you're seated, Maybe you're lying down if you're driving to work, No worries about the mudra. And with each breath, We're going to repeat the mantra. So inhale for Sat, Either repeating it, Reciting it aloud or in your mind. Inhale for Sat. And exhale for Nam, Reciting loud or silently. Inhale, Stop. Exhale, NAM. Inhale, Soft. Exhale, Nam. Inhale, I for sought. Inhale, Nam. Breath, Am. We'll just take five more rounds. Nam inhale shot. Exhale, Nam. Four more inhale, Shot the eye. Exhale, Nam, Am. Inhale, Stop. Exhale, Nam. Two more, Inhale, Stop. Exhale, Nam. Last one, Deep inhale for Sat. And exhale, Nam. Stretching through the arms, Bringing them up overhead. Just taking a few gentle side stretches, Option to reach up, Grabbing opposite wrist or staple grip the hand. Maybe a few gentle twists. And we'll end together. Thank you so much for joining in today's meditation morning.