Sheetali Pranayama | Cooling Breath | शीतली प्राणायाम
Sheetali Pranayama or Cooling Breath exercise is particularly good at calming the physical self, the brain, and the feelings. The Sanskrit word sheet, which signifies “cool” and “frigid,” is the source of the word sheetali.
According to a rough translation, Sheetal means something that is serene, passionless, and calming.” By triggering a potent evaporative cooling process while breathing in and releasing a pleasantly cooling sensation to the inner body tissues, the Sheetali pranayama soothes and relaxes the mind and body system.
By effectively removing the body’s surplus heat, it allows your system to chill down even more while lowering anxiety, panic, and melancholy. Sheetali Pranayama also works wonders for treating constipation, skin conditions, ulcers, acid reflux, indigestion, and blood pressure. Additionally, it improves our reproductive system.
Instructions
- Sit down comfortably in a cross-legged position. Close your eyes and let your body relax.
- For starters, take deep long breaths exhaling through your nostrils.
- Without straining, extend your tongue to the maximum extent outside of the mouth. Roll your tongue, drawing the edges of the tube-shaped mouthpiece toward the center. Place the tongue’s tip in the middle of your puckered lips. Simply compress your lips so as to form a little ‘o’ formation with your lips if rolling your tongue seems difficult.
- Practice taking deep, regulated, and smooth breaths through your rolled-up tongue. This will cause a cold sensation to spread throughout your tongue.
- Draw your tongue in, slowly close your mouth, and breathe out through your nose while taking a deep breath. Repeat by extending your curled tongue once more. A suction sound should be made when inhaling. An ice-cold sensation can be experienced in the mouth’s roof and tongue.
- To maximize this cooling sensation the inhaling time should progressively increase with repetition. Keep increasing the repetitions.
Benefits
The goal of this pranayama is to decrease body heat, which would in turn promote mental clarity and reduce stress. Some other notable benefits are-
- Reduces excessive pitta.
- Lowers body temperature and removes more heat
- Stokes the digestive process and encourages the best possible digestion
- Reduces the gastrointestinal tract’s excessive acidity
- Helps soothe inflammation-related skin disorders
- Helps to reduce body-wide inflammation
- Relaxes and calms the psyche, promoting mental peace
- Supports the body’s natural prana flow.
- Increases contentment and lowers fever
- Relieves colic pain
- Improves immunity
- Reduces excessive hunger
- Eliminates excessive thirst and lowers blood pressure
- Helps balance the endocrine system
- Helps with sleeplessness
Contraindications
Individuals who have low BP, respiratory conditions like bronchitis, asthma, or excessive mucus production should not do Sheetali pranayama.
Those who have heart disease should exercise without holding their breath. This procedure shouldn’t be used in areas with high levels of air pollution since it calls for mouth inhaling, which doesn’t have the same filtration abilities as the nose. Do not force breathing under any circumstances. If you start to feel dizzy, take a break and breathe slowly.
The breathing exercise shouldn’t be done in AC spaces or in winter seasons. Perform this pranayama without retaining your breath if you have heart issues or high blood pressure.
Make sure that you do not practice the pranayama right after a meal.
Summary
Sheetali pranayama is performed by breathing in through the mouth as you curve your tongue while extending it a little outside your lips. While exhalation happens through the nose with a closed mouth after you have held the air for a comfortable amount of time.
Performing Sheetali pranayama regularly calms the body mentally and physically. This pranayama also serves as a breeze of cold air on a hot summer evening. It is a fantastic way to unwind or get ready for meditation.