Pranayama to Soothe Frazzled Nerves and Cultivate Clarity

Your breath provides a window into your current energetic state: Shallow, labored breaths, like those you experience during a tough workout, indicate an activated, heated sympathetic nervous system (your fight-flight-freeze response).

- CRYSTAL FENTON

Deep, slow breaths, on the other hand—the kind you experience when you slip into Savasana or sit in meditation— stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system response and ease you into a cooling “rest and digest’’ state. If the hot temperatures and pace of summer have left you feeling overheated and sluggish, these pranayama practices can function as tonics to invite calm and equilibrium.

BEFORE YOU START