How to do Anulom Vilom Pranayama and it’s Benefits!

A few weeks ago at my yoga class, our teacher taught us this weird breathing. In one nostril and out the other.

When I got home I was wondering what it was all about so I did some research and thought you might be interested too.

Oh sorry, and that word Anulom Vilom Pranayama, it’s a mouthfull but basically means ‘Alternate Nostril Breathing’.

The words come from Sanskrit, “Anulom” means “with the grain” or “natural,” and “Vilom” translates to “against the grain.”

The two together, mean through the controlled breathing you can achieve a harmonious balance.

How beautiful, now lets find out more about how to do this pranayama (controlled breathing technique) and the benefits of us doing it.

Understanding Anulom Vilom Pranayama

The Alternate Nostril Breathing is done to balance the two hemisphere’s of the brain, promotes harmony and balances out your whole system.

Here is a great video, which demonstrates exactly how to do Anulom Vilom correctly.

1. Find a quiet place to sit – This breathing is done sitting up, find a space where you won’t get interrupted and where you’re comfortable. If you’re sitting on a chair, make sure your feet are both flat on the ground. If you’re sitting on the floor, cross your legs, Now close your eyes, straighten your spine, while keeping your shoulders relaxed.
2. Hand position – Your left hand is placed palm up on your left knee, join your index finger and thumb together. Your right hand, you bend your first two fingers down, leaving just your thumb and ring and little finger up.
3. Inhale left nostril – Using your right thumb, block your right nostril. Breathe slowly and deeply in your left nostril until your lungs are full.
4. Exhale right nostril– Now use your right hand ring finger to block your left nostril, while you breathe out, slowly and deeply through your right nostril. This whole blocking and releasing process takes a bit of coordination and practice, so take your time to do lots of practice.
5. Inhale right nostril – Now you pause and switch. So this time you block your left nostril and slowly breathing in through your right nostril.
6. Exhale left nostril – Block your right nostril and exhale through your left nostril.
7. Continue this routine – of alternate nostril breathing, going at a pace that is comfortable for you. You should be able to focus on your smooth inhalations and exhalations.
8. 5-15 minute session – When you first start doing this, I would recommend just doing 1-2 minutes because it takes time to get into a good routine. I found I was hypeventilating at times. Once you can do it feeling comfortable the ideal session time is between 5 and 15 minutes. Have a timer next to you or be able to see your clock.
9. Finish – At the end of your session, do a few normal breathes before you start moving around again.

Thanks to Healthline for sharing some great information about Anulom Vilom.

Benefits of Anulom Vilom Pranayama in Yoga

This was the main part I wanted to find out about – and what I discovered was so exciting I can’t wait to share it with you.

WebMD said that “In a survey of 44 studies, anulom vilom was found to have a positive effect on:

• The autonomic nervous system
• The cardiopulmonary system (heart and lungs)
• Cognitive (mental) functioning
• Problem-solving
• Motor memory retention
• The respiratory system
• The circulatory system
• Treating bronchial asthma
• Diabetes treatment
• Pain management
• Tuberculosis, an infection that attacks your lungs”.

Our team also confirmed the benefits are;

Improved breathing and lung capacity

The controlled and deep breathing in this practice increases your lung capacity and oxygenates your blood, which improves our overall health.

Better heart health

The calming affect of Anulom Vilom for slowing down the nervous system also lowers our blood pressure and heart rate, again gives us better general health.

Balancing our nervous system

The alternate nostril breathing technique helps balance the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. This makes us feel calmer and have less anxiety and stress.

The NJPPP conducted a study which confirmed “A decrease in human reaction time indicates an improved sensory motor performance and enhanced processing ability of the central nervous system due to Anulom Vilom”.

Improved respiratory health

For those of us with asthma, allergies or other respiratory issues, doing this breathing regularly helps give our respiratory passages a good clear out.

Stronger immunity

When the oxygen and blood is pumping around our bodies more efficiently, this also helps to build up our immuntity, making our natural defense mechanisms work even better.

Boost mental clarity

So we’ve established that when we do Anulom Vilom it helps to balance the brain activity. Better balance in our brains results in more mental clarity, better focus and concentration. This means it would be a great addition to include in our daily meditation or yoga.

Better sleep

Practising the breathing in the evening can help to calm your body and mind in preparation for a great night’s sleep.

Less headaches

By promoting less stress and calming down our whole system with this breathing, the result can be that it lessens tension headaches or relieves one.

FAQ’s about Anulon Vilom Pranayama

Can anyone practice Anulom Vilom? 

Mostly everyone is safe to practice this breathing. If you have any ongoing respiratory or cardiac issues I would say just check it out with your doctor before you get started.

When should I practice Anulom Vilom? 

This is an interesting one, the ideal time to do the breathing is 4 hours after eating. so if you do it in the morning it will invigorate you and the everning session would realx you before bed.

How long should I practice?

As I mentioned, it’s best to start slow and gradually build up to longer time frames. The ideal amount of time is between 5-15 minutes once you’ve got your method worked out.

Can pregnant women practice Anulom Vilom?

Yes, they can but please just check anything new out with your doctor first. You might need to do an altered method while you’re pregnant.

How does Anulom Vilom differ from normal breathing?

It involves consciously doing alternate nostril breathing, whereas normal breathing is usually unconscious. The Anulom Vilom breathing has a specific technique and gives us particular benefits for our body and mind.

Conclusion

Well, I don’t know about you but all these benefits have encouraged me to include Anulom Vilom into my daily yoga routine. I’ll start off slowly, maybe just a couple of minutes a day and build it up as we go. I hope you enjoyed hearing about the correct method for doing this breathing and also all the awesome benefits we can get from doing it.