शीतली प्राणायाम
Sheetali — the Cooling Breath
śītalī = the cooling one
Sip the air over a curled tongue and feel it cool you from the inside — a Dubai summer's friend.
In the simplest words
Roll your tongue into a straw and drink the air through it — it feels cool like a breeze. Then breathe out through your nose. It's like having a little air-conditioner inside you.
What it is
Most pranayama warms; sheetali cools. The tongue is curled into a straw and the in-breath is sipped through it, arriving moist and cool on the palate; the exhale leaves warmly through the nose. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika counts it among the eight kumbhakas and recommends it against heat and thirst. In a Gulf summer — or after anger, which the tradition also calls heat — a few rounds are remarkably refreshing. If your tongue will not curl (many people's will not), the sister practice sheetkari simply draws the breath over the teeth with a soft hiss.
Where it comes from: Classical hatha yoga — Hatha Yoga Pradipika II.57–58; sheetkari is its companion practice for non-curling tongues.
Before you practise — health first
Being a cooling breath, skip it in cold weather, with a cold, cough or asthma flare, and with chronically low blood pressure. Air sipped through the mouth is unfiltered — practise in clean air.
How to practise
Sit comfortably in shade or a cool corner.
Curl the tongue lengthwise into a tube and let its tip peek past the lips.
Sip a slow, full breath in through the tongue — notice the coolness on the palate.
Draw the tongue in, close the lips, and breathe out slowly through the nose.
Repeat 6–10 rounds. Can't curl the tongue? Smile gently, teeth together, and sip the breath over them instead (sheetkari).
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
Hot afternoons, after time in the sun, or whenever temper rises; 6–10 rounds as needed.
What it is kept for
Traditionally taken up against heat, thirst and flaring temper — a built-in cooler for body and mood.