7 Pranayama Techniques Every Beginner Should Know

There is a moment — usually about three minutes into your first real pranayama session — when you realise that breathing is something you have been doing wrong your entire life. Not wrong in a medical sense. Wrong in the sense of leaving most of the instrument untouched.

Pranayama (Sanskrit: prāṇāyāma — expansion of life force) is the branch of yoga dedicated to the deliberate regulation of breath. It has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years, and modern research is now confirming what yogis have known all along: conscious breathing directly regulates the nervous system, reduces cortisol, and improves focus within minutes.

Here are the seven techniques worth knowing — in rough order of gentleness, from easiest to most energising.

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing (Belly Breathing)

Before any named technique, you need to relearn how to breathe. Most adults breathe shallowly into the chest. Diaphragmatic breathing — the foundation of all pranayama — reverses that.

How to do it:

1. Sit comfortably or lie flat.
2. Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly.
3. Inhale slowly through the nose, letting the belly rise first, then the chest.
4. Exhale completely, belly falling, then chest.
5. Aim for 5–6 counts in, 5–6 counts out.

Practice this for 5 minutes before any other technique.

2. Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing)

Nadi Shodhana (channel-purifying breath) is the single most recommended pranayama for beginners. It balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain and calms the nervous system within minutes.

How to do it:

1. Sit with spine tall. Rest your left hand on your knee.
2. Bring your right hand to Vishnu Mudra: fold the index and middle fingers toward the palm.
3. Close the right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale through the left nostril for 4 counts.
4. Close both nostrils. Hold for 4 counts (optional for beginners — skip the hold at first).
5. Release the right nostril. Exhale for 4 counts through the right.
6. Inhale through the right for 4 counts.
7. Close both. Hold for 4 counts.
8. Exhale through the left for 4 counts.
9. That’s one complete round. Do 5–10 rounds.

Best time: Morning, before meditation or asana practice.

3. Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath)

Ujjayi (oo-jai-ee) creates a soft, oceanic sound at the back of the throat by slightly constricting the glottis. It is the breath most commonly used during asana practice in Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga.

How to do it:

1. Inhale through the nose with a slight constriction at the throat — as if fogging a mirror, but with your mouth closed.
2. Exhale the same way: through the nose, with the same soft hissing sound.
3. Match breath to movement: inhale to expand, exhale to fold or release.

Benefits: Builds heat, maintains focus, and regulates the pace of practice.

4. Bhramari Pranayama (Humming Bee Breath)

Bhramari (from bhramar, the Sanskrit word for a large black bee) involves humming on the exhale. It activates the vagus nerve and is remarkably effective at switching off anxiety.

How to do it:

1. Plug your ears lightly with your thumbs (or use the Shanmukhi Mudra — all fingers gently closing the sense organs).
2. Inhale through the nose.
3. Exhale slowly while humming — like a bee, steady and continuous.
4. Feel the vibration in your skull, forehead, and chest.
5. Repeat 5–10 rounds.

Best for: Anxiety, insomnia, headaches. Incredibly effective before sleep.

5. Kapalbhati Pranayama (Skull-Shining Breath)

Kapalbhati (kapal = skull, bhati = shining) is a cleansing kriya, often classified as pranayama. It involves short, forceful exhalations through the nose with passive inhalations.

How to do it:

1. Sit tall. Take a deep breath in.
2. Exhale sharply and forcefully through the nose, pulling the navel toward the spine.
3. Let the inhalation happen passively — don’t force it.
4. Repeat at roughly one exhalation per second. Start with 20 rounds, rest, repeat 2–3 sets.

Caution: Avoid if pregnant, if you have high blood pressure, hernia, or active menstruation. This is a stimulating technique — not for evening practice.

Benefits: Clears the respiratory tract, increases metabolic rate, energises.

6. Sheetali Pranayama (Cooling Breath)

Sheetali (sheetal = cool) is Ayurveda’s prescription for excess Pitta — heat, inflammation, and irritability. It literally cools the body.

How to do it:

1. Roll the sides of your tongue upward to form a tube (if you can’t curl your tongue, use Sitkari instead — see below).
2. Inhale slowly through the curled tongue.
3. Close the mouth. Exhale through the nose.
4. Repeat 10–15 rounds.

Sitkari variation: Press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate, part the lips slightly, inhale through the teeth with a “ssss” sound.

Best for: Hot days, after vigorous practice, Pitta imbalances (anger, acid, heat).

7. Bhastrika Pranayama (Bellows Breath)

The most advanced of these seven, Bhastrika mimics a blacksmith’s bellows — both the inhale and exhale are forceful and equal. It is deeply energising and should only be practiced once you are comfortable with diaphragmatic breathing and Kapalbhati.

How to do it:

1. Sit tall. Begin with a full inhale.
2. Exhale forcefully through the nose (like Kapalbhati).
3. Immediately inhale with equal force.
4. Continue at a steady rhythm — roughly one breath per second.
5. Do 10 rounds, then breathe normally for 1 minute. Repeat 2 more sets.

Caution: Same contraindications as Kapalbhati. Beginners: start with just 10 rounds.

Your first week practice plan

Start here — 10 minutes each morning:

• Days 1–3: Diaphragmatic breathing (5 min) + Nadi Shodhana (5 min)
• Days 4–5: Add Bhramari before sleep (5 min)
• Days 6–7: Try Kapalbhati in the morning (2 sets of 20) after Nadi Shodhana

After one week, you will have a felt sense of each technique and can begin to choose what your body needs that day.

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Related reading:

• How to build a morning sadhana practice
• Nadi Shodhana: a complete guide
• Ayurvedic morning routine (Dinacharya) for beginners