This video was posted by Berta Feliciano on the Yoga Manila Facebook site. If you want to hear what a roomful of Ashtangis practising sounds like, watch this clip from Greenpeace titled "Breathe in, breathe out". It can also be very useful to remember the images and soundtrack during practice.
I've been practising quite regularly already and have been attending Mysore classes thrice a week. As a result, I've finally memorized the primary series (hooray!). One side effect though is that I've developed a man-size appetite, especially after yoga.
One of my yoga teachers suggests doing Shitali Pranayama to curb my appetite. Shitali means cooling. It is a pranayama which cools the whole body so it is best done in hot weather or at the end of a vigorous yoga session.
1. Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position in a well ventilated room free from any distractions. Keep the waist, back, neck and spine straight.
2. Take two or three deep inhales and exhales through the nose to prepare.
3. Open your mouth slightly, in such a way that the tip of your tongue should be closer to both lines of the teeth. Now roll the tongue, curling the sides in towards the center to form a tube. Stick the end of the tongue out between your pursed lips. If you can't roll your tongue, just purse the lips making a small `o` shape with the mouth.
4. Inhale through the tube of the tongue.
5. Exhale through the nose.
6. Repeat 5-10 times as you feel the cooling effect.
Benefits of Shitali Pranayama
1. It has great energizing, soothing, relaxing and cooling effects on all the nerve channels and on the whole body.
2. It has a pacifying and relieving effect for various troubles such as headache and fever.
3. The Pranayama purifies the blood expelling the toxins.
4. Shitali pranayama is also highly recommended as an immediate remedy for nervousness.
5. Diseases like tumor, jaundice, skin diseases, fever are cured and it also corrects indigestion and constipation.
6. It quenches the thirst. Hence if one feels thirsty and hungry at a place where water and food are not available, this pranayama could be tried.
7. It activates the liver and improves digestion.
Caution
This Pranayam should not be practiced in case of heavy cough or cold, asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis and low blood pressure.
Will explore this pranayama technique more and see how effective it is. Big thanks to Maritoni Tordesillas for sharing this tip and giving new insights into Janu A, B and C.
10 comments:
thanks ate. now i know what it's called! hoze thaught me this lastyear. i find it funny but love this cos it makes me smile.
Maybe you can show me how it's done? Maritoni just told me what to do...
I've seen and heard this before but never knew what it was for. Funny though that it curbs the appetite but promotes digestion! Should try this soon... Thanks, Mel!
Hi Aves, ya I know it seems like a cure-all doesn't it? Tell me if it works for you ok?
sure, it's easy--sit in padmasana, relax.. look at nosetipm, for the funny u-shaped tongue (inhale), then close mouth (exhale through nose). Exhalation should be 2x length of inhalation. i'll show you next class.
some people can't curl their tongue though so they can practice sitkari instead. :-)
Please enlighten us, Jon. What is sitkari? :-)
i know a kid who can make 'w' instead of 'u'. is that siktari? :P
W? hehehe... no that's not sitkari.. it's just breathing through the teeth instead of through the curled tongue. You can also curl your lips as if you're drinking from a straw... inhale lips, exhale nose... that's sitkari.
Thanks for clearing that up Teacher ;-)
Question: Is it still necessary to engage/disengage bandhas while inhaling/exhaling during Shitali/Sitkari?
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