Slow your Roll with Viloma Pranayama
As the saying goes “the mind makes a wonderful servant but a terrible master”. In fact, our minds have the ability to take us to wonderful peaceful places, but many times they are clouded with a roller-coaster of thoughts that makes us unsettled. That’s when we need to take a break, sit down and breathe, mindfully, to stop all the chatter and clear the mind.
There are many breathing techniques, or pranayamas, that can be very useful in times of stress, but one of my favorites is Viloma Pranayama, because of the nature of this technique it forces the brain to really focus on the breathing away from a train of thoughts.
Viloma, which literally means “interrupted”, can be done in the classic crossed legged position by sitting on a mat or a cushion, or, in case you feel lightheaded, in Savasana with an elevation behind the back with a bolster and block.
Viloma, meaning “interrupted”, forces the mind to focus on alternate breathing.
Here is how to perform Viloma:
Simply fold the pointer and middle finger into your palm, leaving the other 3 fingers straight as you will need them to close your nostrils.
Start by closing your right nostril with the right thumb and breathing in from the left nostril, filing in ⅓ of the lungs, then pausing for 2 seconds, then filling them again for another ⅓ and pausing for another 2 seconds, and so on until you have reached full capacity.
Then breathe out in one go, slowly, from the right nostril.
Breathe in again, this time in one go and from the right nostril until you reach capacity.
Then breathe out in steps from the left nostril, taking pauses in between each release.
Do this for at least 5 to 10 minutes anytime you need a break.
There is a scientific reason as to why Viloma requires you to breathe in steps from the left nostril, and it is because that’s the side of the brain that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering blood pressure and calming the mind.
Take your time, especially if this is your first time, as the scope of this pranayama is to bring attention to the two different sets of breathing.
Viloma is quite effective in shifting the mind towards breathing in a conscious way and lowering anxiety, but it also offers a wide array of benefits: it fills the lungs and let you test their capacity, it has a cooling effect on the body, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the rest and digest system, and it can bring some relief from PMS symptoms.
Here is a simple video on how to perform it at home from my go-to yoga platform Glo.
Follow your practice with a delicious calming latte with cocoa, reishi and aswhgandha.
Try it and let us know what you think!
