Breathing Exercise 1 : Single Nostril Breathing

Sit in any one of the meditative poses that you are comfortable with, keeping the head, neck & spine in line. Tuck in the index & middle finger of your right hand into the palm & close the right nostril with your right thumb. You are now ready to practice the breathing exercise:

• Inhale through the left nostril for 5 seconds while mentally counting Om 5 times. Exhale through the same nostril for 10 seconds while mentally counting Om 10 times. Exhalation is thus twice the duration of the inhalation (1:2 ratio). Repeat this exercise up to 20 rounds through the left nostril.
• Now close the left nostril with your right ring finger and the little finger, & inhale for 5 seconds through the right nostril while mentally counting Om 5 times. Now, exhale through the same nostril for 10 seconds while mentally counting Om 10 times. Repeat for 20 rounds.

Practice this exercise for 15 days & then slowly increase the proportion to 6 seconds inhalation & 12 seconds exhalation. Practice this for at least 20 days before proceeding to other breathing exercises.

According to Swami Vishnu-devananda, "If the foundation is strong then you can build a strong building. So also if you practice the basic lessons in breathing for a long time, it will be easy to take up advanced exercises".