Bhastrika

In the app: Bhastrika Pranayama

Bhastrika rapidly energizes you, clears sluggishness, and builds heat and alertness. Known as the bellows breath, it's a forceful, rapid inhale and exhale through the nose, like a bellows fanning a fire. It's a strong breath, so skip it if you're pregnant or have heart, blood-pressure, or eye-pressure conditions, and stop if you feel dizzy.

The forceful, rapid breathing floods the system with oxygen and strongly activates the energizing side of the nervous system, which sharply raises alertness and energy. You may feel lightheaded, tingling, and a build of heat, all normal, and you can pause whenever you need. Rapid yogic breathing has been studied for boosting alertness and energy. Bhastrika means bellows in Sanskrit, a classical pranayama used to kindle inner heat and vitality. It's completely normal to find this demanding at first, the capacity for it builds gradually over weeks of practice, so start gentle and let it grow.