Alternate Nostril Breathing, Digestion and Health

The way you breathe directly affects how you digest, how you think, and how steady your energy feels throughout the day.  Breathing is not just about oxygen. It is communication with your nervous system.

Shallow, mouth-based, or asymmetrical breathing keeps the body in a low-grade stress response. In that state, digestion is compromised, blood sugar becomes unstable, and energy predictably crashes—often mid-afternoon—leading you to reach for caffeine or adrenal supplements.  I know I have done that myself, reach for that afternoon tea or take an adrenal supplement….no more however.  I remembered a natural technology I did many years ago which I learned from my two visits from India where I went to speak by invitation at the Institute of Neurology in Bangalore. While in India I would always spend a week in a Buddhist temple in total silence, just breathing, just meditating, just going inward.  Even lunch with the resident monks was in total silence.

The body already has a built-in regulator and its own technology for regulation. This technology is alternate nostril breathing.

Simple habits like alternate nostril breathing matter far more than most you realize. This ancient practice gently balances the autonomic nervous system, improves vagal tone, supports digestive efficiency, and stabilizes energy without stimulation. Alternate nostril breathing synchronizes activity between your brain’s hemispheres while increasing vagal tone, shifting the nervous system out of sympathetic drive and into parasympathetic regulation, where digestion and stable energy are restored.  It costs you nothing but two minutes of your time with a terrific return on your investment.

If you want to eliminate—or recover from—that afternoon crash, master alternate nostril breathing rather than relying on adrenal supplements or that afternoon coffee to prop up a dysregulated system.

When breathing is coherent, digestion improves.When digestion improves, energy stabilizes.When energy stabilizes, the nervous system no longer needs rescue.

This is regulation, not stimulation.And the body responds quickly when given the right signal.

Are you ready?  Let’s do this together:  How to Practice Alternate Nostril Breathing (Simple & Effective)

• Sit comfortably with your spine upright • Relax your shoulders and jaw • Use your right hand (thumb and ring finger)

1. Gently close the right nostril with your thumb

2. Inhale slowly through the left nostril

3. Close the left nostril with your ring finger

4. Exhale slowly through the right nostril

5. Inhale through the right nostril

6. Close the right nostril

7. Exhale through the left nostril
   

That is one full cycle

• Begin with 5 cycles • Work up to 10–15 cycles • Keep the breath slow, smooth, and silent • No forcing—comfort is key

Best times to practice: • Mid-morning • Before lunch • Early afternoon (especially if fatigue appears)

Even 2–3 minutes can reset the system.

The body does not need to be pushed.It needs to be reminded.

Breath is one of the fastest, gentlest reminders we have.

May your day move with ease, your breath stay spacious, and your energy remain gently coherent…. Go be the calm field you already are—steady, precise, and quietly transformative……in Light…….dr. teri