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Step 1
Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Lotus or half lotus is ideal for practicing pranayama, but a simpler position is fine if that is more comfortable for you.
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Step 2
Practice kapalabhati, which means "shining skull" in Sanskrit, first. Start by inhaling and exhaling deeply. Inhale again, then exhale quickly and forcefully by contracting your abdomen. As soon as you perform this exhalation, you will probably inhale again automatically. In this exercise, focus on the exhalation. Exhale sharply in this way at least 20 times in a row, allowing your abdomen to relax and inhale between each repetition.
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Step 3
After performing 20 or more repetitions, inhale and exhale deeply one more time. Inhale deeply again and perform another set of 20 or more quick exhalations. Repeat this entire step again, for a total of 3 sets.
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Step 4
Allow your breathing to return to normal. Now, practice the exercise called anuloma viloma, also known as alternate nostril breathing. Fold down the 3 middle fingers of your right hand and close your nostrils with your thumb and pinky. Open your left nostril and inhale while counting to 2. Hold your breath to a count of 8, then close your left nostril, open your right nostril and exhale to a count of 4. Immediately inhale through the right nostril while counting to 2 and again hold your breath to a count of 8. Close your right nostril, open your left nostril and exhale to a count of 4. This is 1 round of anuloma viloma.
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Step 5
Without stopping in between, practice at least 4 more rounds in the same way.
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Step 6
As you continue to practice pranayama during your Sivananda yoga session, build up to more and more repetitions. Eventually you should try to do at least 3 rounds of 60 breaths while practicing kapalabhati, and at least 12 rounds of anuloma viloma every day.
