Of everything in the Śiva Svarodaya, two practices hold up best against modern research, and neither needs any belief in nāḍīs or elements. Try them for a week.
1. One minute at waking
nirīkṣitavyaṃ yatnena sadā pratyūṣakālataḥ
It should be examined carefully every day from daybreak. — Verse 149
On waking, before you get up and before you touch your phone, take one minute. Notice three things:
- Which nostril is more open. Breathe out gently onto the back of your hand, or onto a mirror, if you’re unsure.
- Roughly how fast and how deep the breath is.
- One word for how you feel.
Write them down somewhere fixed. Don’t interpret them yet.
Why it works: attaching a habit to waking, rather than to a time or an intention, is what makes it last. And waking is the day’s biggest routine shift in the nervous system, so it is the best single moment to notice how you are. One morning tells you almost nothing. Thirty establish a baseline; sixty begin to show a pattern. What most people find is that their morning state predicts more about the day than they expected.
Keep it under a minute. Every extra step makes it less likely to happen on a bad morning, and the bad mornings are the ones worth recording.
The Swar Yoga page guides you through the check and keeps a two-week record on your phone. You can also add a daily reminder from there.
2. Five minutes of slower breathing
Sit comfortably — no need for lotus; any steady seat with an easy spine will do. Then either:
- Simple slow breathing. In through the nose for about four seconds, out for about six. That is roughly six breaths a minute. Three to five minutes is enough.
- Alternate-nostril breathing, without holding. Close the right nostril with your thumb and breathe in through the left for about four seconds. Close the left, breathe out through the right for about six. In through the right, out through the left. That is one round. Continue for five to ten minutes.
Why it works: slowing the breath, with an out-breath longer than the in-breath, is one of the best-supported ways to calm the nervous system; the effect shows up in the heart’s rhythm within minutes. Alternating nostrils probably adds little beyond the slowing, but the hand gives your attention something to hold, and the pattern keeps the pace steady. If you like it, use it.
If your mind wanders, don’t try to stop thinking; suppressing thoughts makes them come back. Let thoughts arise, decline to follow them, and come back to the breath. Noticing that you drifted, and returning, is the practice.
If you want to change sides
The text says the open side can be changed on purpose, and it is right. Lie on one side for five to ten minutes, or press a fist firmly into one armpit for two or three minutes: the nostril on the other side will usually open. It is a small, reliable way to feel that your body’s automatic rhythms respond to what you do.
Before you start
- Don’t hold your breath in these practices if you have high blood pressure, a heart rhythm problem, glaucoma or eye disease, or if you are pregnant.
- Stop if you feel dizzy, breathless, or notice chest discomfort, a headache or changes in your vision, and breathe normally.
- If one side of your nose is blocked most of the time, that is worth a visit to an ENT doctor. It is not a sign to read.
- These are practices for learning about yourself, not treatments. If you are unwell, keep following your doctor’s advice.