Sitali Pranayama
Sitali Pranayama translates to 'the cooling breath'.
Perfect for Summer Time.
How
Firstly sit in a comfortable upright, seated position. Secondly, spine is nice and straight. Next place your hands gently on your knees. Finally have your legs folded, or if this is too difficult, straight in front of you or sit in a chair. Most importantly, keep your pelvis slightly tilted forward. Sit on a block or bolster to support this gentle pelvic tilt.
Then breathe in through a tongue curled like a straw. Next breathing out through the nose. If you are unable to curl the tongue you can perform Sitkari instead, where you breathe through the teeth which are lightly held together or sip through your lips like a straw.
Sitali
Why
Sitali pranayama is a great way to prepare you during the hot summer months for the practice of yoga.
In conclusion, this works much like an evaporative cooling system. It cools the air before it hits your lungs, impacting the gas exchange with warm gases being exchanged for cool ones. Sitali prnanayma cleanses the system of excess pita, helping with conditions such as nausea, skin eruptions, eczema, thirst, diarrhea, fever, hyperacidity, anger, inflammation, menopausal symptoms and other signs of excess heat and toxicity. [2]
Please refer to this great YouTube clip on how to perform this pranayama
Inhaling over the tongue, cooling the blood and exhaling through the nose.
Equal inhalation and exhalation, 1:1 breath and a minimum of 30 rounds, around 5 minutes to take effect.
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