Chandra Bhedana (Left Nostril Breathing)

How to do it

1. Sit tall on a cushion or a chair. Rest your left hand on your knee.
2. Fold the index and middle fingers of your right hand into your palm. Your thumb closes the right nostril, your ring finger the left.
3. Close the right nostril with your thumb. Breathe in slowly and fully through the left.
4. Close both nostrils and hold. Keep it a soft pause, never a strain.
5. Keep your ring finger on the left side and lift your thumb. Breathe out slowly and completely through the right.
6. That is one round. Start the next the same way, in through the left. You never switch sides.
7. After the last round, lower your hand and breathe normally for a few breaths before you get up.

Benefits

• Calmer within a few rounds

  The slow pace and the soft hold settle you. In yoga tradition, this is the cooling, moon breath.

• A slower heart rate in a trial

  In a 2014 trial, heart rate and systolic blood pressure fell after nine rounds of Chandra Bhedana^[5].

• An easy wind-down before bed

  Use it before sleep or after a hot, busy day. You'll lie down already settled.

• Simple to follow

  The side never changes, so after a round or two you stop thinking about your fingers and just breathe.

What the research says

Studies of single-nostril breathing point the opposite way from Surya Bhedana. In a 2008 study of 21 men, right-nostril breathing raised blood pressure^[4]. Left-nostril and alternate-nostril breathing lowered some blood pressure measures^[4].

The closest test of Chandra Bhedana itself is a 2014 trial in 20 yoga-trained adults^[5]. Twelve of them were under regular medical care for conditions such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes^[5]. On separate days, each did nine rounds of six nostril techniques at 5 to 6 breaths a minute, with no holds^[5]. After Chandra Bhedana (in left, out right), heart rate and systolic blood pressure fell, and reaction times got slower^[5]. The authors suggest that the nostril you breathe in through sets the main effect^[5].

Slower reactions fit a calmer, less aroused state, but the trial did not measure mood, anxiety or sleep^[5]. These are small studies of short sessions, and none tested the 8 to 16 second holds Spoon uses. Some teachers present the practice as a remedy for specific conditions. Those are traditional or promotional claims, not measured results.

Where Chandra Bhedana comes from

Chandra means moon. Chandra Bhedana is taught as the mirror of Surya Bhedana, the sun-piercing breath. Yet the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda Samhita, the classical manuals that describe Surya Bhedana, have no left-nostril twin^[1][2]. Neither lists one among its breath-retention practices.

The idea behind it is old: in yoga tradition, the left side carries the cooling moon channel (ida). As a named practice paired with Surya Bhedana, it is most visible in 20th-century teaching, such as B.K.S. Iyengar's Light on Pranayama, which covers the two in one chapter^[3]. Spoon guides the breathing pattern, not the full traditional practice.

Tips

• Remember the rule: thumb closes the right before you breathe in; ring finger closes the left before you breathe out.
• Never switch sides. Right after Surya Bhedana it is easy to start on the wrong side, so check your first inhale.
• Think of the hold as a pause. Shorten it the moment you strain.
• Keep your lips closed for the whole round. If you take a mouth breath, start the round again.
• At bedtime, pick a hold that feels easy, so you finish relaxed.
• Use it as a short calming practice, not as a substitute for medical care.

Related exercises

• Surya BhedanaIn through the right nostril, out through the left, every round. The yoga breath for waking up.
• Alternate Nostril BreathingIn through one nostril, out through the other. A slow, even breath that settles you and clears your head.
• 4-7-8 BreathingBreathe in for 4, hold for 7, breathe out for 8. The long exhale slows you down for sleep.