← Yoga & breathing

Cool the heat

A midday practice for those stretches when everything feels hot, sharp and burning, whether that is heat in the chest after eating or the flushes and short fuse of the perimenopausal years. The shapes are open and unhurried, and the breathing is the cooling kind that Ayurveda traditionally turns to for excess pitta. Leave a good gap after meals so nothing presses on a full stomach.

15 min · 9 steps · Beginner · best midday · for acidity, perimenopause

See a clinician rather than practising if:
  • you have difficulty or pain on swallowing, vomiting, or unexplained weight loss
  • there is chest pain, especially with exertion, sweating or pain into the arm or jaw
  • bleeding between periods, after sex or after the menopause

Before you start

  • leave two to three hours after a main meal
  • a bolster or folded blankets to raise the chest when lying down
  • a cool, well-aired room

0 of 9 done — tick each step as you go

  1. Thunderbolt Poseवज्रासन2 minutes

    one of the few seats traditionally used soon after eating

    Asana · block, bolster, blanket · avoid with recent knee or ankle injury, or joint replacement, acute knee arthritis pain, numbness or pins and needles in the feet (come out and move) · how to do it

  2. Cat–Cowमार्जरी–बितिलासन6 rounds

    Asana · blanket, chair · avoid with wrist injury · how to do it · watch

  3. Standing Side Bendकोणासन4 rounds each side

    open the side ribs and the waist

    Asana · chair, wall · avoid with acute low back injury, sacroiliac joint instability, vertigo or dizziness (keep the gaze forward, not up) · how to do it

  4. Butterfly Poseभद्रासन2 minutes

    Asana · blanket, block, wall · avoid with knee/groin injury · how to do it

  5. Reclining Bound Angleसुप्त बद्धकोणासन2 minutes

    prop the chest higher than the belly if reflux is an issue

    Asana · bolster, blanket, block · avoid with knee/groin injury (support well) · how to do it

  6. Cooling Breathशीतली9 rounds

    draw the breath in over a curled tongue; use sheetkari if the tongue will not curl

    Breath · avoid with cold/cough, low blood pressure, winter (use sparingly) · how to do it · watch

  7. Left-nostril breathingचन्द्र अनुलोम विलोम9 rounds

    in and out through the left nostril only, cooling and quietening

    Breath · avoid with blocked left nostril or a heavy head cold, low blood pressure — this practice can lower it further, kapha heaviness, lethargy or sluggish digestion (choose a warming practice instead), keep the raised arm supported to avoid shoulder strain · how to do it

  8. Humming-bee breathभ्रामरी6 rounds

    Breath · avoid with ear infection, avoid straining the voice · how to do it · watch

  9. Corpse Poseशवासन2 minutes

    head and chest raised on a folded blanket

    Asana · bolster, blanket · avoid with late pregnancy (lie on the side) · how to do it · watch

Cautions for this sequence

  • avoid lying completely flat if you get reflux; keep the chest above the stomach
  • cooling breaths are not comfortable in a cold room or with a chest infection; use gentle nostril breathing instead
  • kneeling in vajrasana is not for sore knees or ankles; sit on a chair or a bolster
Cautions carried in from the individual practices (19)
  • Thunderbolt Pose — recent knee or ankle injury, or joint replacement
  • Thunderbolt Pose — acute knee arthritis pain
  • Thunderbolt Pose — numbness or pins and needles in the feet (come out and move)
  • Cat–Cow — wrist injury
  • Standing Side Bend — acute low back injury
  • Standing Side Bend — sacroiliac joint instability
  • Standing Side Bend — vertigo or dizziness (keep the gaze forward, not up)
  • Butterfly Pose — knee/groin injury
  • Reclining Bound Angle — knee/groin injury (support well)
  • Cooling Breath — cold/cough
  • Cooling Breath — low blood pressure
  • Cooling Breath — winter (use sparingly)
  • Left-nostril breathing — blocked left nostril or a heavy head cold
  • Left-nostril breathing — low blood pressure — this practice can lower it further
  • Left-nostril breathing — kapha heaviness, lethargy or sluggish digestion (choose a warming practice instead)
  • Left-nostril breathing — keep the raised arm supported to avoid shoulder strain
  • Humming-bee breath — ear infection
  • Humming-bee breath — avoid straining the voice
  • Corpse Pose — late pregnancy (lie on the side)

Classical references: Hatha Yoga Pradipika — 2.57–58 — sheetali, described as cooling

Source: Ojastha editorial — classical hatha yoga and modern therapeutic yoga practice

Reviewed by hraovvs@gmail.com

Educational yoga and pranayama guidance, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing a diagnosed condition, check with your clinician and learn these practices with a qualified teacher.