Nadi Shodhana

Svatmarama’s instructions in Hatha Yoga Pradipika Chapter 2:

1. Posture and place (2.1–2.4). Sit erect in a steady seated asana (he names Padmasana), in a clean, quiet place, having first regulated diet and lifestyle. The spine is straight, the body still.
2. Inhale through the left, hold, exhale through the right (2.7). Closing the right nostril (classically with the thumb), the yogi “inhales prana through the left nostril (idā), retains the breath as long as he comfortably can (kumbhaka), then exhales through the right (pingalā).” 3. Reverse — inhale right, hold, exhale left (2.8). Then “inhaling through the right nostril, slowly filling the abdomen, he holds the breath as prescribed, and exhales through the left.” The inhalation is slow and the belly fills; the retention is held “as prescribed” (comfortably).
4. Alternate continuously (2.9–2.10). “Inhaling through the same nostril by which the breath was let out, holding it to the utmost, and exhaling by the other” — the side you exhaled from becomes the side you next inhale through, so the sequence keeps swapping. He directs the yogi to “practise thus with the sun and the moon (pingalā and idā), and within three months the nadis are purified.” 5. Build gradually, never force. The breath is drawn in slowly, retained without strain, and released slowly. Svatmarama is explicit that the breath is tamed gently “as one tames a lion, elephant or tiger” by degrees (2.15) — forcing it harms the practitioner.
6. Frequency. He prescribes practice four times a day — at dawn, midday, evening, and midnight — building toward many rounds, increasing the count week by week.
7. Signs of purification (2.19–2.20). When the nadis are cleansed, Svatmarama says the body becomes lean and bright, the inner fire kindles, and nada (the inner sound) is heard — the cue that one is ready for the more advanced kumbhakas. (Sourcing note: verse numbers and the inhale-left/exhale-right alternation, the “sun and moon,” the three-month timeframe, and the four-times-daily prescription are Svatmarama’s documented instructions, faithfully paraphrased. He does not use the modern English label “alternate-nostril breathing”; the alternation itself is explicit in the text. The finger/thumb nostril-closing is the standard traditional execution.)

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th c. CE) by Svatmarama is the principal classical manual of hatha yoga, compiling the teachings of the Nath siddhas (Matsyendra, Goraksha/Gorakhnath) and earlier tantric sources. → (or the Nath/yogic authors folder).

Nadi Shodhana flows downstream into nearly all modern yoga and breathwork: Sivananda and the Bihar School (Satyananda) systematised it for the West, and it underlies popular “box breathing” and coherent-breathing protocols.

Its sibling cleansing practice, Trataka, is documented separately.

Anuloma Viloma / Sivananda — the same alternation, taught with a fixed 1:4:2 inhale:hold:exhale ratio.

• Satyananda / Bihar School — staged versions, often without retention for beginners, then adding kumbhaka and bandhas.
• Coherent / resonance breathing (modern) — slow paced breathing (~5–6 breaths/min) without the nostril alternation; isolates the autonomic effect.
• Box breathing — equal inhale-hold-exhale-hold; the retention idea, stripped of the channel model.
• Pranayama generally — Nadi Shodhana is the gateway; Svatmarama’s eight kumbhakas (Bhastrika, Bhramari, etc.) build on this foundation.

Forcing the retention. The single biggest error. Svatmarama tames the breath gently; straining the kumbhaka causes strain, dizziness, even harm. Beginners can drop retention entirely and just alternate inhale/exhale.

• Fast, shallow breathing. The power is in slow. Lengthen the exhale; let the belly fill on the inhale.
• Tense hand / hunched spine. Keep the shoulders soft and the spine erect so the breath moves freely.
• Chasing big counts early. Build the ratio and round-count over weeks, not in one session.
• Skipping the prerequisites. Svatmarama assumes a settled lifestyle and a clean body (shatkarma where needed) before heavy pranayama; ignoring this is where over-zealous practice goes wrong.