Alternate nostril breathing is a yogic breathing practice that can help boost mental clarity and calm the mind.
Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Talia Marcheggiani and I’m a naturopathic doctor with a special focus in mental health and emotional wellness and today I’d like to show you a special kind of breathing technique for balancing both the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
This breathing technique can help, if we’re feeling overwhelmed and if we’re feeling anxious, to calm the body down, and bring us out of that fight-or-flight stress response. And likewise, if we’re feeling really depleted and tired it can bring up our energy levels and give us a boost of clarity and concentration.
In Ayurvedic medicine—this is the ancient Indian medicine—it’s believed that each nostril supplies oxygen for each side of the brain: the right and left hemispheres. And we know from neuroscience that the right hemisphere of the brain is more involved in creativity and relationships and intuition, whereas the left hemisphere is more analytical and language-based and reason-based. The right side of the body is more masculine and Yang in nature and the left side is more Yin in nature. It’s believed in Ayurvedic medicine that each nostril controls oxygen to each side of the brain.
So this only takes about 3-5 minutes and I encourage you to try it just as a meditation technique if you’re beginning a meditation practice, or to calm the body or something to do before sleep where you can balance the brain and relax the body before drifting off into a sounder and better night’s sleep.
So if you take a seat on the floor or on a surface like your bed, you can sit in a cross-legged position. Or if you’re sitting in a chair have your feet flat on the floor and your back straight. So just have your shoulders back and down and keep your back in a straight, upright position. It shouldn’t feel too stiff. You should have a natural curve at the back of your spine.
Have your left arm either palm facing down or palm facing up on your left knee.
Take your right hand. You’re going to take the index fingers, the peace sign, and you’re going to place them right between your eyebrows. This is the “Third Eye”. You’re going to have your ring finger and your thumb free.
Just take a moment. You can close your eyes or you can watch what I’m doing here, but I’ll talk you through it. Now I just want you to feel your breath deepen. So send your breath to the lower abdomen. If you want you can place your hand on the lower abdomen and just feel the breath move the abdomen in and out as you breathe.
Deeper breaths have a calming and more calming effect on the body. They also stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the nerve that runs from our brain to our digestive system and is involved in calming the body down and bringing it into that rest and digest state.
When you’re ready take one deep, cleansing breath in and exhale and then block off the right nostril with your thumb. Breathe in through the left nostril. Using the ring finger close both nostrils and then release your thumb and the right nostril and exhale.
Breathe in through the right nostril… block it off…hold… and release and breathe out through the left. Now try it again. So, breathe in through the left, block it off, and exhale through the right. Inhale through the right. Block it off. Exhale through the left. Inhale again through the left. Block it off. And exhale through the right. So, if you want you can stop here and just continue on your own, but let’s continue together for another two minutes. I’ll just guide you through it. Inhale through the right nostril. Block. Exhale through the left. Inhale. Block. Exhale through the right. Inhale. Block it off. Exhale through the left. Inhale through the left. Block. And exhale through the right. Inhale. Block. And exhale.
One more cycle. Inhale. Block. Exhale. Inhale. Block. And exhale. Now place both hands on your knees, facing up or down. Keep your eyes closed and take a couple more inhales, breathing into the belly. Notice how you’re feeling; if you’re feeling a sense of calm, or an increased sense of clarity. You probably noticed that one of your nostrils was more blocked than the other one and that through doing this practice you managed to either switch which nostril was activated or clear both for better breathing.
If you want you can take a few moments here and just pay attention to your breath, or begin your meditation practice. Or, continue on your day. Thanks!
