Nadi Shodhana: Step by Step Guide and Benefits
- Veena Haasl-Blilie
- May 27, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: May 8
This pranayama practice is suitable for most everyone and balances Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. It is a practice that is particularly helpful in relieving anxiety as it reduces emotional reactivity. It is a very effective way to quickly reach a state of very profound mental and physical stillness.
Prana means "life force" and ayama means "expansion." Pranayama practices help us permeate our bodies and minds prana, with the vital force. Pranayama increases your vitality." -Veena, Saumya Ayurveda
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NADI SHODHANA: ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING
Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing, is a simple yet powerful breathwork practice. It calms the nervous system and balances the nadis—the subtle energy pathways that inter-penetrate the physical body.
Also called “channel purification,” this technique gently shifts the breath from one nostril (nadi) to the other. In doing so, it harmonizes the flow of both breath and energy, bringing the system into balance.
With regular practice, Nadi Shodhana quiets the mind, softens emotional reactivity, and helps prepares you for meditation. It’s one of the most essential yogic breathwork practices for grounding attention, deepening relaxation, and finding calm within.
WHY PRACTICE Nadi Shodhana?
This gentle practice offers lasting benefits, both physically and energetically. It:
Balances energy flow between the left and right sides of the body and mind.
Enhances communication between the brain’s hemispheres.
Grounds attention and supports a peaceful mental state.
Softens reactivity to emotional triggers over time.
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Creates space for deeper insight and awareness.
Think of it as clearing energetic static to tune into a peaceful, focused state.
WHEN TO PRACTICE Nadi shodhana
For best results, practice twice a day—once in the morning and again in the early evening. You can also add a midday or nighttime session if helpful.
Always practice on an empty stomach (at least 2 hours after eating).
Each session takes about 5–10 minutes, depending on your breath length.
Nadi Shodhana is best done when you won’t be disturbed.
Option One
First Session: Before breakfast, as part of your Ayurvedic morning routine.
Second Session: Midday, a couple of hours after lunch.
Third Session: As part of your Ayurveda evening routine, before bed.
Option Two
First Session: Before breakfast
Second Session: Before lunch
Third Session: Before dinner
Step-By-Step Guide: How To Do Nadi Shodhana
1. Find Your Seat
Choose a stable, upright sitting position:
On a Chair:
Sit near the front of a hard-backed chair, feet flat on the ground, knees at 90°. Avoid leaning back.
On the Floor:
Sit in Sukhasana (easy pose) on a folded blanket or cushion if needed. (see image below)
Keep your head, neck, and spine aligned. Relax your body. Let the breath flow naturally and quietly into the diaphragm.
2. Create the Hand Position (Vishnu Mudra)
With your right hand, form the classic mudra for alternate nostril breathing:
Fold the index and middle fingers inward toward the palm (rest on the fleshy part below your thumb)
Leave your thumb and ring finger extended.
Hold the ring finger just over the left nostril
Hold the tip of the thumb just over the right nostril
In this position, you can open and shut your nostrils with just a slight movement of your thumb or ring finger. Use a featherlight touch.
3. Check Your Active Nostril
Before beginning, gently close one nostril at a time and notice which of your two nostrils is flowing more freely. The nostril with stronger airflow is your active nostril, the other is your passive nostril. This helps determine which side to start with.
4. Establish the Breath
Before you begin alternating nostrils, take a moment to establish diaphragmatic breathing—quiet, smooth, and deep.
Let your breath flow low into the belly without effort. No force, no sound—just a steady rhythm, like a wave gently rising and falling.
Keep your breath continuous, with no pauses between the inhale and exhale. Imagine the breath tracing a soft, elliptical path, like a figure-eight or a sine wave.
Now, with that calm foundation, begin the practice.
5.Begin the Breathwork Begin the Breathwork
There are many different versions of Alternate Nostril Breathing. The version below is the most simple. Perform each step 3 times.
Round 1
Lightly close active nostril with your thumb or ring finger.
Slowly inhale and exhale through the passive nostril (×3)
Switch fingers to lightly close the passive nostril.
Slowly inhale and exhale through the active nostril (×3)
Inhale and exhale through both nostrils (no nostril closed) (×3)
Round 2
Begin with the active nostril (×3)
Then the passive nostril (×3)
Then both nostrils (×3)
Round 3
Repeat the pattern from Round 1
Benefits of Nadi Shodhana
Reduces ama
Increase calm and focus
Reduces anxiety
Bolsters the nervous system
Invigorates the mind increasing clarity
Supports healthy hormones
Supports healthy respiratory system
Helps to alleviate respiratory irritants such as dust, smoke, allergens
Balances ida and pingala nadis (solar and lunar, masculine and feminine energies)
Balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain
Increases oxygenation
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Nadi Shodhana: Step by Step Guide and Benefits is among the most helpful and profound pranayama practices.
Nadi Shodhana: Step by Step Guide and Benefits. There is a saying, "The mind is more in the body, than the body is in the mind." The Saumya 3 step meditation process shifts us from fight-flight-freeze mode, to rest-restore-relax mode. Give it a try for forty days and observe the changes. The more grounded and relaxed we are, the smoother life flows.
"The breath is the connection between the mind and body, so by training the breath, we become calm, focused, and grounded, we slow down the aging process by decreasing stress. These practices are so simple and easy to have as part of our daily life. We actually feel and look younger."
- Veena, Saumya Ayurveda
1. Learn Diaphragmatic Breathing and Change Your Life. When we re-learn to breath diaphragmatically, we move from the flight-fight-freeze mode, to rest, restore, relaxation mode from where we want and need to live.
2. Daily Guided Practices: 11 minutes in the morning and in the evening, as anchors of your daily Ayurveda routine.
3. Ayurveda Daily Routines: --Ayurvedic Morning Routine | 6 Rituals for a Calm and Centered Day
"Choose a couple of practices from the routines that provide you with the greatest support. Perform them while applying our two minute meditation technique and your mundane tasks, just transformed into a mellifluous meditation. This is meditation applied to daily life."
- Veena, Saumya Ayurveda
The Benefits of Nadi Shodhana: Alternate Nostril Breathwork Guide is a tool to add to your lifestyle today.
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Combined with her beautifully guided relaxation and meditation practices, Veena offers a truly holistic to achieving and maintaining harmony in body, mind, and spirit—and living more peacefully and joyfully in an increasingly more erratic world.”
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Nadi Shodhana: Step by Step Guide and Benefits
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