Beat the summer heat with Sheetali Pranayama

Battling the summer, sun can be a quite a task in itself. The high temperature drains the energy levels and you become more prone to heat stroke, sunburn and dehydration. Yoga has a potent technique, called sheetali pranayama, which can help cool you down from within and bring relief to people suffering from heat stroke. The best part is, it just takes a few minutes and can be done anywhere. It calms down the body temperature and nervous system and acts as an effective stress buster. Sheetali is derived from the root Sheet, which means cold. Sheetal means that which is calm and soothing. Sheetali pranayama also called cooling breath, is a practice that cools, calms and soothes the mind and body, and clear excess heat (or balance excess pitta ).

Technique

• Sit in any comfortable mediation posture (crossed leg).
• Close the eyes and relax the whole body.
• Extend the tongue outside the mouth as far as possible without strain .Roll the sides of the tongue up so that it form a tube.
• Practice a long, smooth and controlled inhalation through the rolled tongue
• At the end of inhalation, draw the tongue in, close the mouth and exhale through the nose.
• This breath should produce a sucking sound
• If you find difficulty to roll the tongue use the index finger of each hand to create the tube shape.
• A feeling of icy coldness will be experienced on the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

Benefits

• Cools the body and affects important brain centers.
• Reduces mental and emotional excitation.
• Encourages free flow of prana throughout the body.
• Control over hunger and thirst, and generates a feeling of satisfaction.

Cautions

• Those suffering from low blood pressure or respiratory disorder should not practice this pranayama.
• Heart disease patients should practice without breath retention.
• Those suffering from chronic constipation should avoid it.
• This pranayama should not be practiced in winter or in cool climate.

Apart from Sheetali pranayama, Sheetkari & Chandra bhedi pranayama also helps to cool you down in summer.