चन्द्र भेदन
Chandra Bhedana — the Moon-Piercing Breath
candra = moon, bhedana = piercing — awakening the lunar channel
In through the left nostril, out through the right: the breath of coolness, softness and sleep.
In the simplest words
Close your RIGHT nostril and sip air in through the left side only; then breathe out through the right. The left side is the 'moon side'. This breath is like a cool glass of water for your mind.
What it is
The left nostril belongs, in the yogic map, to the ida nadi, the moon channel, cooling and quieting, and chandra bhedana enters only by that gate: in through the left, out through the right, round after round. Modern teachers pair it with its solar twin as the two deliberate extremes of nostril breathing; the classical texts describe only the solar one. Where surya bhedana stokes, chandra bhedana settles. It is the evening's breath, the antidote to an overheated day, the one many practitioners reach for when anger has already arrived or sleep will not.
Where it comes from: Modern hatha teaching: taught as surya bhedana's cooling counterpart by the Bihar School (Satyananda) and by B.K.S. Iyengar; the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (II.44) and the Gheranda Samhita (ch. V) list surya bhedana among their kumbhakas but name no chandra bhedana.
Before you practise: health first
A cooling breath: skip it with asthma flare, heavy cold or mucus, chronically low blood pressure, or in cold weather; on heavy, low-mood days the balancing nadi shodhana is usually the better choice. Never force a blocked nostril.
How to practise
Sit tall, right hand in Vishnu mudra.
Close the right nostril with the thumb; breathe in slowly through the left.
Close the left with the ring finger, open the right, breathe out slowly.
In left, out right; the pattern never changes.
5–9 rounds, exhale longer than inhale; then sit and feel the cooling settle.
Practise now
Breathe with the circle
The circle will grow as you breathe in and soften as you breathe out. Follow it.
Round 1 of 8
Sessions of a minute or more are added to your sadhana log, stored only on this device. Stop whenever your body asks.
When & how long
Evenings, hot afternoons, after anger or overstimulation, and as a pillow-side practice for stubborn sleepless nights.
What it is kept for
Cooling body and temper, easing into sleep, softening the system after an over-caffeinated, over-screened day.