In Hillary Clinton’s tell-all about her unsuccessful run for President, she talks a lot about how she got through the aftermath of her savage defeat.
At an event promoting the book, What Happened, last week in New York she explained what she did to get through one of the most grueling periods of her life.
“I did some yoga,” she said. “I tried Alternative Nostril Breathing. I highly recommend it. It calms you down.”
She also said she had her ‘fair share of chardonnay.’ Who could blame her.
But let’s focus on the alternative nostril breathing. What is it? It’s a breathing technique associated with yoga that’s known for its calming effects. It’s sometimes referred to as Nadi Shodhana and it’s often practiced at the beginning or end of a yoga class.
At its most basic, it’s as straightforward as holding one nostril closed, breathing in through the other one, closing both nostrils to hold the breath for a moment and then breathing out of the other nostril. Repeat that about ten times, ideally while sat comfortably with your eyes closed.
If you need some further explain, Clinton herself demonstrated the practice in an interview with CNN. There are also plenty of videos of random people explaining how to do ANB on YouTube.
There are many claimed benefits to doing ANB, including better concentration, increased mental clarity, lung cleansing, calmness, stress relief, regulating body temperature, improving sleep, and soothing the nervous system.
As far as whether or not it works, it’s a pretty simple exercise to try and many people swear by it as a stress reliever.
Clinton herself had this to say about it: “I can only say from my personal experience that if your sitting cross-legged on the yoga mat and your doing it, and you’re really trying to inhale and hold it and have a long exhale, it’s very relaxing.”
