Cooling Breath Technique

In this short meditation, you will be led by the soothing sound of Tristan's voice, as he uses the Cooling Breath technique (also known as, Sheetali Pranayama). This breathing practice effectively cools the body, mind, and emotions, allowing you to shed any tension, negativity or stress you may be holding. This ancient and powerful practice of Sheetali comes from the Sanskrit root. The Sheetali Pranayama is an effective tool that can be used at any time of day or night.

Transcript

The following exercise is a breathing technique called Shitali breath,

Also known as the cooling breath.

Get yourself in a comfortable position and you can do it seated or lying down with your eyes open or closed.

Breathe no struggle around the practice and if you need to take a momentary time out,

That's perfectly fine.

Now as you breathe in through your nose,

Fill your lungs fully and completely without straining.

Now start exhaling through softly pursed lips as if you're blowing through a straw.

Let it be a prolonged steady stream of breath and empty your lungs completely.

Breathing completely and breathe out completely without straining.

Each time you exhale,

Empty your mind of all anticipation and empty your body of all tension.

As you inhale,

Fill your heart with happiness,

Peace and joy.

And continue to breathe with constant attention and detached awareness.

Each time as you inhale,

Drop into a deeper level of silent awareness,

Experiencing the balancing and relaxing impact of the parasympathetic nervous system.

The breath is calm and the mind is silent.

The body is relaxed and the heart is open.

Now return to your normal breathing and turn your intention inwards.

Experience the powerful impact of pulsations and the form of sensations in your body.

Let your detached awareness embrace all experiences unconditionally.

Let your mind melt and merge into this place of peace and relaxation.

Now bring your total undivided attention to the eyebrow center and drop into the deepest levels of stillness,

Peace and ease.

Now I invite you to take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale with a deep sigh.

And again take a deep breath in and exhale with a deep sigh.

This concludes our practice of the cooling breath.

Namaste.