Yoga started in ancient India and has been an important part of our culture. It is a type of spiritual, physical, and mental exercise which are practiced for your well-being. It has become popular as an effective form of physical exercise in western countries also. Yoga reduces stress and also promotes mental and physical health. Kapalbhati Pranayama is a popular yoga asana. Read on to know more about it.
What is Kapalbhati Pranayama?
This Pranayama is a form of breathing exercise that promotes good health and overall well-being. Kapalbhati literally means shining forehead in the Sanskrit language and Pranayama means a breathing exercise. It got such a name because practicing Kapalbhati is thought to improve mental health and intellectual capability. It is a wonderful yoga technique in which you sit in a particular pose and then do breathing exercises.
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Types of Kapalbhati Pranayama
There are major 3 types of Kapalbhati Pranayam:
1. Vatakrama
In Kapalbhati Pranayama, people sit cross-legged on floor and breathe. In this yoga practice, the inhalation must be passive and exhalation active.
2. Vyutkrama
In Kapalbhati technique, a person needs to sniff in water through the nostrils and let it go into the mouth and then finally spit it out.
3. Sheetkrama
This technique of Kapalbhati is the opposite of Vyutkrama. This technique involves taking water through the mouth and then expelling it through the nostrils.
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Benefits of Kapalbhati Pranayama
Kapalbhati has many benefits for the body and mind. These are as follows:
- Practicing Kapalbhati can soothe the eyes and also remove the dark circles under the eyes.
- It removes stresses and brightens the mind.
- It cures acidity, heartburn, and gas.
- It increases the capacity of the lungs.
- Improves memory and concentration.
- It can cure wheezing and asthma.
- It treats sinusitis.
- It prevents hair loss and controls greying of hair.
- It averts depression and also boosts release of endorphins,.
- It enhances the health of the skin and gives a radiant glow.
- This asana helps improve blood circulation.
- It improves digestion.
- This asana improves the metabolic rate of our body, boosting weight loss.
- It removes toxins from the body by generating heat.
- This yoga asana also improves the functioning of the kidneys and liver.
- It lowers blood sugar by activating the pancreas.
- It strengthens your bones by increasing in the body’s calcium levels.
- It can treat uterine fibroids.
- It Increases the body’s energy level.
- It cures acne and treats varicose veins.
- It slows down the aging process.
- This yoga asana can cure insomnia.
- It could regularize menstrual cycles and also prevent menstrual cramps.
Also Read: 5 Useful Yoga Poses for Pregnant Women
1. Benefits for health
Kapalbhati has several health benefits and could cure various ailments.
- The benefits for the Kapalbhati pose for diabetes include lowering the level of blood sugar by triggering pancreas to produce sufficient insulin and reducing stress.
- The benefits of this yoga pose for weight loss include decreasing abdominal fat, increasing abdominal strength, and toning abdominal muscles. Kapalbhati helps in fighting obesity.
- Practising Kapalbhati can provide relief from constipation. This is an issue for most of the people. Bad eating habits, lack of hydration, and other health problems could cause constipation. Practising Kapalbhati could prevent constipation and practising this for 3-5 minutes every day might cure constipation within a week.
- Kapalbhati Pranayama could improve the immune system and one’s ability to fight disease-causing germs.
2. Benefits for brain and mind
The benefits of Kapalbhati for the mind and brain include:
- It may help stimulate the nerves, energize the brain, and de-clutter the mind.
- Kapalbhati Pranayama might calm your mind and also provide people with a sense of balance.
- It can even improve the memory and help the concentrate better.
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3. Benefits for skin
The benefits of Kapalbhati for the skin include:
- It can prevent cure acne if done regularly.
- It might help in removing toxins from body and slow the aging process.
- It can also clear the clogged skin pores, clarifying the skin and giving the face a luminous glow.
4. Benefits for hair
The benefits of Kapalbhati pose for healthy hair are:
- It checks hair loss by increasing blood flow to scalp and strengthening the hair roots.
- This exercise prevents premature greying of the hair.
Side effects of doing Kapalbhati
Although Kapalbhati has numerous benefits, it can have some side effects also in some people, and so, you should talk to a yoga expert or your doctor before doing Kapalbhati. The side effects that might be caused by Kapalbhati are:
- It could cause hernia and high blood pressure.
- It might make one nauseated.
- You can have headache after performing this Pranayama.
- It would make the mouth to become dry.
- It might lead to increased sweating and salivation.