Welcome,
This is a practice for you that you can use at any point where you feel stressed or nervous,
Anxious,
Even when you are in the middle of a social situation you haven't got any time to go anywhere private and you can feel your entire body overheating because of whatever uncomfortable situation you might find yourself in.
It is called Shitali breath and it's a very simple technique that I used when I was working,
Sat at a desk in an office unable to sneak away and feeling incredibly stressed to the point that my entire body would start to heat up.
You can exaggerate this technique where people would notice that you're practicing it after a certain amount of time you can use this breathing technique and nobody will even know other than you because it will calm you down settle your nervous system and cool the body.
Now to begin we are going to exaggerate the technique so that you really get it so that you really feel it working and then as you go along with your own personal practice you can make the movements and the shapes far more subtle,
Nobody will know.
You can be driving the car with the children in the back or your partner in the passenger seat and nobody will really know,
You'll simply be breathing.
First of all you're going to stick your tongue out a little bit and roll the tongue.
You're going to roll the tongue and rest it in between the top teeth and your bottom teeth.
If you can't roll your tongue it's not a problem,
Instead of rolling the tongue what I'd like you to do is take the the back of your tongue or the lower part of your tongue and bring that to the top teeth inside the back of your teeth.
So you're rolling the tongue again but the back of your tongue is resting on the back of your upper teeth.
Great!
Now all you're going to do however your tongue is rolled is take a deep breath in through your mouth.
Now close your mouth and exhale through the nose.
Again rolling your tongue as you did before and breathe in through the mouth.
The mouth closes,
Exhale through your nose.
Again roll the tongue.
You might want to try the other way of rolling the tongue if you wish.
Inhale through the mouth with the tongue rolled.
If you wish keep the tongue as it is,
You don't necessarily have to close your mouth but exhale through the nose.
One last time inhale through the mouth,
Tongue is rolled.
Pause for a moment and exhale out through your nose.
Relax the mouth,
Breathe normally.
What's happening here is as you breathe in through the mouth because the mouth is open and your tongue is rolled we're using the skin of the tongue to cool the air as you draw the air into the body and as that cool air comes into your body it cools down the body.
Cooler body,
Cooler state,
It helps encourage relaxation and it cools down your system particularly if you're stressed,
Particularly if you're overheated.
Let's try it one more time and again choose which one works best for you.
If you can do both,
Try both,
See which one you prefer.
You might find that one you can practice a little bit more discreetly,
No one around you would notice what you're doing than the other.
So again you're going to roll your tongue and rest the tongue in between the teeth.
This is a classic roll of the tongue.
If you can't do that,
Not a problem.
Bring the back of your tongue to the top of the back of the teeth.
Take a deep breath in and exhale through the nose.
You know it might even make a sort of sucking noise.
Exhale through the nose.
Three more.
Breathe in through the mouth.
Exhale through the nose.
Two more.
In through the mouth.
Exhale through the nose.
The tongue is rolled.
Inhale through the mouth.
Exhale through the nose.
This is the last one.
You're drawing the air in through the mouth.
Exhale through the nose.
Rest the tongue,
Rest the mouth now.
Your lips might be pressed together.
And breathe softly.
And slowly return.
Thank you.
I really hope this helps you in your yoga practice,
Your daily practice of meditation,
Or simply getting through the day.
Have a great day.
