Nawa Sankya Pranayama: For Energy & Focus

Nawa Sankya, or the 9-count breath, is a pranayama (breathing exercise) accessible to everyone. This is an energising practice, as well as a great pranayama, to help focus the mind. It is also a great practice to start working with breath retention and suspension and to connect with diaphragmatic breathing. This traditional Hatha yoga pranayama is a perfect addition to your morning practice.

Transcript

Make your way to a comfortable seat.

You may wish to place a pillow or cushion beneath the buttocks to have the knees lower than the hips.

Have a nice upright spine,

Relaxing the shoulder blades down the back,

Chin gently tucked,

Long line of energy from base of the spine to the crown of the head,

Imagining a golden thread lifting up through the crown of the head,

Adding length and lift,

Alert but relaxed,

Steady seat.

Bring your awareness to the flow of breath in and out of the nostrils,

Feeling any sensations in or around the nostrils as you breathe in and out.

Now a Sankhya or the nine count breath.

Keep breathing naturally while I explain the practice.

This is a full breath in and out done to the count of nine,

Inhaling into the belly for the count of one,

The count of two inhaling into the chest,

Holding the breath in for counts three,

Four,

Five and six,

The count of seven exhaling dynamically from the diaphragm,

Almost sneezing out.

The exhale should sound something like this.

Suspending the breath out for the counts eight and nine.

I'll guide you through the first few rounds.

Take a full breath in to begin.

Exhale fully.

Inhale,

Belly one,

Chest two,

Hold,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Exhale seven,

Hold eight,

Hold nine,

Inhale,

Belly one,

Chest two,

Hold,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Exhale seven,

Hold eight,

Hold nine,

Inhale,

Belly one,

Chest two,

Hold,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Exhale seven,

Hold eight,

Nine.

Continue breathing,

Now a Sankhya,

With your own count.

This is a great practice to focus the mind,

An energizing breath,

Stimulating circulation and blood flow.

It's also a great practice to start experimenting with diaphragmatic breathing,

As well as the suspension and retention of the breath.

Now a Sankhya is a great practice to do first thing in the morning,

To help bring energy and vitality into the day.

Finishing the round you're on and doing one more full round.

Once you've finished letting go of the practice,

Relaxing all efforts,

Allowing the breath to return to its natural,

Spontaneous rhythm in and out of the nostrils.

Observing any sensations in the body,

Any effects of the practice.

Hara yon tat sat.

Your Pranayama practice is complete.

Reviews

That was the first time I've tried that particular pranayama practice and I found it invigorating. Great way to start the new year. ✨💫 Thank you!

A new technique for me, I found it is very effective first thing in the morning. Really appreciate this pranayam

Her pranayams breathing exercises are excellent. They're so easy to understand and follow.

Thank you!

Hello beautiful 🌺🌺🌺thank you so much for the wonderful breathing practice 🍒I feel wonderfully relaxed and I’m smiling ☀️have a sweet day 🙏Namaste

I loved this breathwork practice. I did a 2nd round after the end of this track and really felt sensations in my third eye and throat chakras, followed by a long breath rentention and hold that brought me great clarity.

as I learn about the path of the yogi from the Bhagavad Gita, I am continually astounded by the great, silent wisdom that exists within.

looking forward to continuing this practice; grateful to learn another breathing technique through my practice of cultivating equanimity in my waking life. 😌🙏🏾

Thank for a clear quick and simple explanation for this beneficial practice!

Very nice! This really helped me deepen my otherwise shallow morning breathing. Thank you for sharing 💚

Perfect thank you 😊🙏🏻

It was great that you explained the breathing upfront before starting which made it easier to follow along - thank you!

Lovely to attempt, a little difficult to do but I'll keep trying and I'll get there I'm sure. It's the inhales that get me, I find it hard to inhale so quickly for a count of only 1 into the belly and then the chest. Is it just like an in breath to fill the belly and then the chest to a count of 2? Or could I do that instead? Orrrrr, does it have to be jerky, like pull it into your belly only for 1, then your chest only for 2, because THAT'S what I struggled with, I'm a deep breather normally but I did manage to do a 'box breathing'/DMT and 4-7-8 breathing meditation the other night which was a lot of work and rounds but I did it, it is similar to Wim Hof's method and that's a challenge isn't it so I'm proud I managed that but I'm just struggling here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated for the in breaths.

Tysm and I just want to say, I appreciate your time and kindness for letting us experience your free meditations, for the ones who need it and can't afford a membership (like me lol), it's extremely appreciated.

Blessings🙏love❤️luck🍀& light🌞to you!

Very nice. Thank you for posting and getting my day off to a calm start ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Really enjoyed this practice. Felt invigorated afterwards.

Lovely! So engaging! Thank You!

Thank you. Very clear concse instructions. A wonderful beginning pranayama practice. This left me feeling energized!

very energizing

I felt a great sense of energy after this practice! Ready to start my day focussed. I thought it’d be too short but for this type of meditation / practice it was perfect.

Very calm yet energetic voice and clear instructions, thank you 🙏🏽 what did the mantra at the end mean?

Such a surprise! Super short! Super good! Thank you