Alternate nostril breathing is one of my favorite breathwork practices,
Even in its most simple state,
Which is the one I'm going to show you today.
So basically,
You're just blocking your nostrils with particular fingers,
Which I'll show you.
And breathing side to side.
So you're breathing in through one and out through the other.
In through that.
And out through the other.
Back and forth.
So the air is flowing through one nostril out and in.
Out and in.
That's it.
You're focusing on the sensation of the breath.
You may be slowing the breath down just a little bit,
So there's no rush,
There's no tension,
You're not trying to breathe deeply.
This is a practice,
Nadi Shadhana,
Aka alternate nostril breathing,
Whatever you want to call it,
That has many,
Many different iterations.
So we will do some more advanced ones as we go on.
But this is all you need to get started.
So let's sit up tall and straight.
With your left hand,
Gently connect your index and thumbs at the tips and rest your hand on your lap,
Either palm up or down.
With your right hand,
You're going to gently take the first two fingers and curl them into the palm.
You don't have to press them and just curl them into the palm.
You're moving them out of the way so that the thumb and the ring finger are the only ones that touch the nostrils.
Right hand.
Left hand resting,
Beginning with inhaling through the left.
That means we'll block the right with the thumb.
You can go ahead and touch it now.
See how that feels.
We'll start by breathing in through the left.
And then blocking the left and breathing out through the right.
Breathing in through the right.
And blocking the right and breathing out through the left.
And on and on.
So we're going to do that just at a comfortable rhythm as if we're breathing pretty naturally,
Maybe a little slower than our normal rhythm,
But that is it.
And if you want to leave your eyes open and watch me as you're learning this,
You can do that.
Otherwise,
Let your eyes close,
Focus your attention at that third eye space behind the forehead.
You can also really focus your attention on the sensation of the breath as it switches sides.
That's very beneficial as well.
Well.
So let's begin basic Nadi Sharhana alternate nostril breathing.
Breathing through both nostrils.
Breathe out through both.
Block your right nostril with your thumb.
Breathe left.
Breathe out right.
Breathe in right.
Breathe out left.
Breathe left.
Breathe out,
Right.
Breathe in right.
Out loud.
And left.
Outright.
And rain.
Learn.
In left and continue on your own.
Breathing naturally.
No strain.
Now the next time you happen to exhale through your left,
That will end the breathing.
And you can bring both hands down to relax.
Close your eyes now for a moment if they're not already.
Notice the sensation of air coming back in and out through both sides.
Notice how you feel.
And as we move forward together,
We will try some different variations of this,
Sometimes holding the breath in,
Sometimes using different ratios or counts,
Counting the breath.
So we'll try some different things as we get comfortable with this practice,
But this basic variation of alternate nostril breath is all that you really need.
Three to five minutes should show you a true effect on your nervous system where you feel calm and centered.
It's really balancing both sides of the brain and helping to even out emotional states as well.
So I hope you enjoyed it and we'll do more soon.
If you're practicing on your own,
Remember left hand is locked,
Right hand using thumb and ring,
And starting and finishing through the left nostril.
For now,
We'll try different things as we move along.
Enjoy.
