शीतकारी
Sheetkari — the Hissing Cool Breath
śītkārī = the one who makes the 'seet' sound
Sheetali's sister for tongues that don't curl: sip cool air over the teeth with a soft hiss.
In the simplest words
Smile with your teeth together, then suck air in through your teeth, 'ssss', like tasting something cold. Close your mouth and breathe out through your nose. Instant inner air-conditioning, no tongue-rolling needed!
What it is
Roughly a third of people cannot roll the tongue into sheetali's straw, and for them the Hatha Yoga Pradipika's sheetkari (II.54) is the alternative: teeth lightly together, lips parted in a soft smile, and the breath drawn in across the teeth with a quiet 'seet' sound, arriving cool on the tongue's floor. The exhale leaves warmly through the nose. Same cooling effect, different method. The text adds that its practitioner is troubled by neither hunger, thirst, sleepiness nor laziness (II.55–56), which regular practitioners of hot afternoons find easy to believe.
Where it comes from: Classical hatha yoga: Hatha Yoga Pradipika II.54–56, the companion of sheetali.
Before you practise: health first
Skip in cold weather, colds and asthma flares, and with very sensitive teeth (the cool stream lands right on them). Mouth-drawn air is unfiltered, so practise in clean air. Low blood pressure keeps rounds few.
How to practise
Sit at ease in shade; touch the upper and lower teeth lightly together.
Part the lips in a soft smile so the teeth show.
Breathe in slowly across the teeth with a soft 'seet' and feel the cool on the tongue.
Close the lips and breathe out slowly through the nose.
Repeat 6–10 rounds, unhurried.
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 hours, flushed moods, after sun and crowds: anywhere sheetali would be used, for mouths that prefer this door.
What it is kept for
Cooling body and temper; modern teachers also link it with healthy teeth and gums, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika with freedom from hunger, thirst, sleepiness and laziness (II.55–56).