Physical Education · Ch 3 — Yoga
Sheetali Pranayama
Sheetali Pranayama
As its name indicates, Sheetali Pranayama cools the system and helps to keep the body's temperature down. The cooling comes from drawing the in-breath across the moist, rolled tongue.
Drawn by us to help you understand the concept clearly, and verified to make sure it's accurate. For exams, practice from your NCERT textbook's own diagram.
The figure has two parts: on one side a bare-torso person sits cross-legged (Padmasana) with the hands on the knees in gyan mudra and the eyes closed; on the other side a close-up of a face shows the tongue brought outside the mouth and rolled lengthwise into a tube or cylinder, thr …
Technique
- Sit in Padmasana or any comfortable position, place the hands on the knees in Gyan Mudra, and close the eyes gently.
- Open the mouth, bring the tongue outside and form a cylindrical (tube) shape by folding both outer sides of the tongue lengthwise, and inhale.
- While inhaling, the air should pass through the rolled tongue.
- Close the mouth.
- Retain the breath for as long as you can while pressing the chin against the chest (chin lock) and pulling the rectum muscles (anal lock).
- Then release the chin lock and anal lock and exhale slowly through the nostrils.
Benefits
- Beneficial in diseases of the throat and spleen.
- Cures indigestion.
- Helps in controlling thirst and hunger and lowers blood pressure.
- Beneficial for diseases caused by imbalance of pitta dosha (heat).
- Purifies the blood.
Why it cools the body
As the incoming breath passes over the moist, rolled tongue, the evaporation of saliva and the latent heat it absorbs cools the air before it reaches the throat and lungs — the same evaporative-cooling principle used, with a different tongue and jaw position, in Sheetkari Pranayama. This is why both techniques are traditionally recommended for hot weather or for conditions linked to excess body heat (pitta imbalance).