A Beginner's Guide To Nadī Shodhana, aka Alternate Nostril Breathing

One of the more accessible techniques in a traditional Prānāyama sequence, Nadī Shodhana is now popular in Western culture too. (You may hear it referred to as alternate nostril breathing or channel-cleaning breath.) Here's a primer on the benefits of the practice and how to work it into your life.

First and foremost, Nadī Shodhana and all other prānāyama techniques are deeply spiritual and sacred. As Accessible Yoga founder Jivana Heyman, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, previously wrote on mbg: "The breath is the tool that we use to work with the life force within us. With this in mind, you can approach pranayama with a subtler awareness—not only are you working with the breath but with life force itself."

Some adaptations of the practice, like "sun breathing" or "moon breathing," intentionally target either the right or left nostril on its own, for a more energizing or relaxing practice respectively.

Any controlled breathing sequence will come with a variety of physical and nonphysical benefits. Here are four that are associated with the Nadī Shodhana:

Jasmine Marie, the founder of Black girls breathing, considers alternate nostril breathing one of the best techniques for calming a frantic mind. "Alternating my fingers to focus the breath on a specific nostril allows me to tune my attention inward and ground down more quickly," Marie tells mbg.

"I use alternate nostril breathing in my practice as a tool to create balance," Matluck says. "Well-being requires balance—balance between the yin and yang, active and passive principles, being and doing, resting and working. Holistic healing is about balancing these dualistic forces in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the self. When we practice alternate nostril breathing, we are balancing the self through the left and right nostril."

Though scientific research on the practice is limited, one study1 found that 30 minutes of alternate nostril breathing a day for four weeks had a positive effect on the cardiorespiratory activity of healthy subjects. It reduced their pulse rate, respiratory rate, and diastolic blood pressure, signaling that it sent their bodies into a more relaxed state.

Breathwork teacher and mbg class instructor Gwen Dittmar likes to use the technique before sitting for a longer meditative practice: "It can be a valuable tool for deepening self-awareness prior to meditation," she writes on mbg.

As with any practice, Matluck says to take this one slowly at first: "I would recommend starting with a short practice (three to five minutes) and really taking note of how you feel before and after. The more aware you become of the ways in which the practice shifts you, the easier it becomes to stick with it."

Editor's Note (January 24, 2021): This article was originally published on July 31, 2020. A previous version of this article indicated the study referenced had participants practice Nadī Shodhana for 15 minutes per day. We have since clarified this to indicate that the study had participants practice Nadī Shodhana for 30 minutes per day.