The philosophy behind alternate nostril breathing

// a quad-focused sequence leading to reclined hero's pose

Dear Humans,

There are certain things that we do all the time in a yoga class: downward facing dog, ujjayi breath, savasana—and my question over the last week has been: do we understand why we’re doing all of this?

Again—no shame if the answer is “no”—so often I’ve forgotten or never learned in the first place, too. But as you know, my mission for this year is to revisit some of the basics around yoga philosophy and bring you along for the ride.

If you’re a yoga teacher seeking to deepen your understanding of the philosophy, one way to do that is to get curious about the intention behind the practices and postures.

The yoga practice has been built in an extremely intentional way. Most of the movements and techniques we use have deep layers of meaning behind them. That’s so cool, really, because it means there is so much to explore.

For example, this week I wanted to cue Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing in my class. It’s a practice I’ve taught many times and one that I often see offered in yoga classes. At first, I just added it to my class plan. Then, I paused and asked myself if I really understood the why behind Nadi Shodhana.

The why rings a bell from my YTT days, but as I’ve talked about, it’s been a long time since then and it’s hard to remember it all. So, I looked it up. And, of course, there’s a really interesting reason behind this specific pranayama practice.

As teachers, I want us to be encouraged to dive back in to yoga with a beginner’s mind. Again and again exploring this big, vast philosophy, and not being scared to not know it all. When we revisit what we’ve been taught, we solidify it into our minds.

In today’s newsletter, I am going to share what I’ve learned about the philosophy behind Nadi Shodhana, and how I cued it in class. Then, for our sequences I am sharing a main flow that I used to stretch and activate the quads, designed for a class leading to reclined hero’s pose or supta virasana as a peak pose.

For paid subscribers, I then share three more flows that you can stack around the main flow to build a full yoga class: a warm-up flow, a mini flow, and the peak flow.

So, onward: first philosophy and pranayama, then asanas.

In yogic philosophy, it’s said that there are various energy channels throughout the body, we call these the nadis. The nadis bring prana (breath, energy, life force) throughout the body.

One of these channels moves through the left nostril: the ida nadi. Another channel moves through the right nostril: the pingla nadi.

The ida nadi is connected to the moon energy. This energy is softer, feminine, cooling. The left channel invites receptivity, relaxation and rest.

The pingla nadi represents the sun. This energy calls in vitality, passion, and strength. This is a heating energy.

In Sanskrit, “Ha” represents the sun and “Tha” represents the moon. Thus, “hatha yoga.” Much of the yoga we practice today comes from the teachings of hatha yoga. The idea is that we’re seeking to balance the sun and the moon energies in our bodies.

*This gets a little confusing because hatha yoga is both an umbrella terms for many styles of practice and it’s become a term ascribed to a set sequence of postures. I might try to explore this deeper in a future letter.*

The flow of energy through the two channels is often unequal. Depending on who we are, we might favor one more than the other. (This is also a physical phenomenon, nostril dominance is supposed to switch every 90 minutes, but sometimes this falls off pace, which is why this breathing practice can be beneficial).

When it comes to Alternate Nostril Breathing or Nadi Shodhana, we are using our breath to balance the ida and pingla nadis.

Here is how I cued it in my yoga class:

I had my students come to hero’s pose (virasana) using a block underneath their sitz bones for extra support. This served a dual purpose, because it’s a nice seated option and it foreshadowed the peak posture.

I led them into a few deep breaths, inviting them to close their eyes and begin to drop into the space.

I introduced the concept of the nadis, using the overview from above. Then I began to set them up for alternate nostril breathing.

I invited them to take their right hand and fold their index and middle fingers down to their palm. Then, lightly rest their thumb on their right nostril and their ring and pinky fingers on their left nostril.

I cued them to take a full breath in through both nostrils and a full exhale out.

Then, I began to cue in the following way:

• Close left nostril, exhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Inhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Hold at the top for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Exhale left for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Inhale left for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Hold at the top for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Exhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Onward

After a few rounds cuing using the counts, I said: “Keeping going at your own pace” and I stopped cuing, allowing them to breathe in silence.

After a few more rounds, I let them know they had two rounds left. I invited them to end with an exhale through their left nostril, then take a big inhale through both nostrils and a big exhale.

For some of you, this content today will be a refresher, and hopefully for many of you it will be a good reminder that there’s always an opportunity to dive deeper.

Substack is telling me I’m nearing my email length limit…lol. So I’ll leave it here for today.

Be well this week, dear humans. Leave a comment if you want to add to the discussion! I know there’s even more depth to this topic.

Sending love, warmth, and balance your way,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

yogahumans.substack.com | yogahumans.com

IG: @yoga.humans

If you don’t have the means to become a regular paid subscriber, but want to send a token of gratitude for the time and energy it takes to create this content, you could buy me a coffee instead,

Another easy way to support me is to simply give these posts a “like” or leave a comment on Substack. The algorithms love that. <3

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | Feb 12, 2025

the write-up:

• three legged dog

• toe to wrist taps (1-3)

• warrior II

• reverse warrior with gomukhasana arms

• reverse triangle

• triangle

• revolved half-moon

• revolved dancer’s pose

• eagle

• shooting star

• tik tok arms

• extended mountain

• forward fold

• high plank

• side plank with foot grab

• vinyasa!

For my paid subscribers, I’m giving you basically all the sequences that I stacked around the main flow from above to design a class leading to reclined hero’s pose as a peak posture. Reclined hero’s pose requires a lot of knee flexion and quad flexibility and it’s one of those postures you don’t want to jump into. So these flows are designed to activate and lengthen the quads so that students feel supported in the final shape. Enjoy!