Shitali Pranayama
I. Starting position
- Sit in any Meditative posture
II. Practice
- Stretch the tongue forward out of the mouth and fold it so as to resemble the beak of a crow.
- Slowly suck the air through the beak and feel the jet of cool air passing down the trachea into the lungs.
- Enjoy the turnover and Kevala-Kumbhaka (automatic cessation of the breath).
- Slowly exhale through the nostrils, carefully feeling the movement of the warm air all the way up from the lungs through the trachea and the nasal passage.
- Enjoy the stoppage of the breath and promote this blissful Kevala Kumbhaka before the breath starts moving in again through the beak of the tongue.
- This completes one round of Shitali Pranayama. Repeat nine rounds