Jane O’Rourke – 5 minute Alternate Nostril Breathing for Calming and Soothing

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, and I’m a yoga and mindfulness teacher. Nadi Shodhana breathing, alternative nostril breathing, is really really good for helping to calm and centre the mind, I call it instant mental first aid because it is so good at helping balance the nervous system. In yoga tradition it is believed to synchronise the two hemispheres of the brain and a study has found that people who practice Nadi Shodhana, or alternative nostril breathing reported lower stress levels.

So if you would like to give it a try now find a comfortable seated posture. So, perhaps sitting on a chair or on a cushion on the floor so your back can be nice and straight, sitting nice and tall. And bringing your hand up towards your face, your ring finger is going to be placed very gently on your left nostril and your thumb is going to be placed very gently on your right nostril, and then the index finger and the middle finger are going to be very gently placed on your forehead. So the aim is to keep the breath nice and gentle and soft and relaxed during the practice, so not any forcing of the breath, and the idea is for a regular and even in breath and out breath and very very gentle and soft, so you can barely hear the breath. And I am encouraging you to go at your own pace if you are finding that I am going too fast or too slow. We are only going to do five rounds so it is going to be quite quick but it will be interesting for you to see what the effects are for you. If you don’t instantly feel calm and relaxed by doing this practice it might be something that you need to practice a few times to get the benefits.

So let’s begin, so just starting to take a normal breath in and out through the nose and then gently close off the left nostril with your ring finger and breathe up through the right nostril. Gently place the thumb on your right nostril and lift the ring finger off your left and breathe down through the left. Breathing up through the left, place the ring finger back on the left nostril and breathe down through the right. Breathing up through the right nostril, place the thumb back on the nostril, lift the ring finger off the left and breathe down through the left nostril. Breathe up through the left nostril, place the ring finger back down and breathe down through the right. Breathing up through the right nostril, place the thumb back on the right and then breathe down through the left. Breathing up through the left, place the ring finger back down on the left and then breathe down through the right. Breathing up through the right, place the thumb back down and then breathe down through the left. Breathing up through the left, place the ring finger back down and then bring the breath down the right nostril. And then gently taking the hand away, placing your hands on your lap and just take a few breaths in and out through both nostrils. Allowing the breath just to return to its normal rhythm, so not forcing the breath in and out, just allowing the breath to move in and out through the nose, nice and gently.

And perhaps watching your breath for the next minute or two, moving in and out of the nose at a nice, gentle, regular rhythm. Even in breath, even out breath. You can practice this everyday if you like as a way of keeping the mind nice and calm and steady.