Nostril breathing in asana practice
Have you ever paid attention to which nostril you are breathing through in your asana practice?
The enteric nervous system, our second brain, or our ‘gut instinct’ has about as many neurons as the brain incased in your head. The two brains produce roughly the same chemicals like dopamine, and serotonin and surprisingly they both show signs of aging including neural cell loss (PMID: 20725870)
When we have a sensory overload, like being inside Sephora (when it was safe to be inside) it can lead to heat being locked in the head. Eating super spicy Indian food is the same heat trapping scenario as the perfume overload for the olfactory nerve. Heat locked in the head can lead to headaches, and heat in the digestive system can lead to constipation, indigestion, diarrhea.
Your meditation practice, and your pranayama practice help to cool the fire in the head. Generally the body switches between nostrils every 2 to 2.5 hours and the left nostril corresponds to the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system and the right to the sympathetic (fight or flight) system (PMID: 24741554) which one ‘should’ you be breathing through during your asana practice?
Ideally, we will be breathing through the right nostril throughout the active portion of our practice and during the closing practice it will switch from the right nostril to the left as we go into the last 3 seated asana. For a brief transition we may breathe through both nostrils (this often happens in the closing inversions) but as our breathing and practice slow down the left nostril should take over. If heat is trapped inside the head you may want to practice Nadi Shodhana with the inhale on the left nostril and exhale through the right.
Again, this is the ideal, this is the body operating under nomal circumstances. It this isn’t the way your body is breathing in practice naturally, try not to be bothered by it, rather simply take note of what is going on. It may take a few Surya Namaskaras to switch into the right nostril and maybe you may need to do more than the usual 5/3 Surya A/B to get into it.
This nostril theory extends beyond our asana practice and into our eating practice.
Ideally we would like to be breathing through the left nostril when we are digesting and consuming our meals, snacks, and naps. In a published study* healthy participants were observed breathing through the left nostril during and after eating but there are no published studies or research done on individuals with digestive issues, obesity, or other health concerns related to nutrient intake.
Consuming the right nutrients is vital to our growth and development however the body needs to be in the correct nervous system to process and incorporate those nutrients into our system. Yoga, and the practice of being aware of our bodies extends beyond the time on the mat in the morning. Breathing through the parasympathetic left nostril when eating isn’t going to cure IBS, obesity, or GERD but it will put you in the correct frame of mind to digest what you are eating.
And that leads us full circle back to the asana practice.
After those heavy holiday dinners you may have been reaching for the bottle of pink stuff or a Bao He Wan formula. You may have been feeling sluggish the next morning and ‘skipped’ practice. No judgement. If we look at our yoga practice and examine the asana where the feet are turned out and the hips are in external rotation as more yang or fire in nature those could be helpful for moving the sluggish potatoes and gravy, pies, and stuffing.
The right side of the abdomen has the ascending part of the large Intestine and is more yang, the left is the descending portion and is more yin. If those potatoes really have you stuffed up, switch things up a bit and practice with the left foot turned out first to get the fire moving.
If you’ve been to India and had ‘Delhi belly’ you would want to start on the right foot too. But traditional American holiday food needs a little help to get up and moving.
It is important to be mindful that yoga, pranayama, and even surgery is not a cure, they are tools, or a therapy for the body so that you can shine your light a little brighter and longer. If you want to work with me one-on-one to strengthen your digestive system send me an e-mail.
