Anulom Vilom Vs Nadi Shodhan: Know the difference

The ancient yoga texts mention various pranayama techniques for healing humans naturally! Each technique holds a special value in your holistic practice. Every technique has its own benefits and values for your mental, physical, and emotional health. The two most famous and widely practised pranayamas are Anulom Vilom and Nadi Shodhan. These two practices help humans in different ways to attain a healthy life naturally!  

Practising Nadi Shodhan and Anulom Vilom can help one keep the mind and thoughts in control and live a peaceful and healthy lifestyle!! Now, before understanding Nadi Shodhan and Anulom Vilom, you must know about Pranayama. ‘Prana’ means the life energy in our body that keeps us alive and healthy! Pranayama is a practice that keeps our prana, that makes our prana flow smoothly through our energy channels to keep us healthy!!

In this blog, we will understand the difference between these two pranayamas, that is, Nadi Shodhan Pranayama and Anulom Vilom practice!!

Understanding Nadi Shodhana: Meaning and Benefit

One of the ancient practices that helps us in the natural cleansing of our inner self and body is Nadi Shodhana! Nadi Shodhana is a pranayama that keeps our energy channels clean and free from any blockages. The term Nadi stands for the subtle channels of energy present in a human body, whereas the term Shodhana indicates the process of cleansing or purifying these energy channels in natural ways. So, in short, Nadi Shodhana means the cleansing of our subtle energy channels! Ancient yoga texts and scriptures have widely mentioned Nadi Shodhana as an important means of cleansing the human body and removing any blockages present in these channels for the proper flow of our life energy, or prana!

There are various factors that can block our energy channels, or the nadis! Our nadis get blocked due to ongoing stress, accumulation of toxins, or various kinds of physical or mental trauma, leading to modern-day ailments. There are other factors that also contribute to the blockage of nadis, such as a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy food habits, and a lack of holistic healing practices in life. 

Nadi Shodhana helps in cleaning, keeping us clean from within,a nd immunizing us against various mental, physical, and emotional illnesses. 

Understanding the concept of Anulom Vilom

Anulom Vilom is also known as the term for alternate nostril breathing pranayama. This is another practice of pranayama that helps in strengthening the functioning of the lungs and other respiratory organs. It also helps in enhancing mental health by reducing stress and lifting the mood! This is the most basic level of pranayama that helps in keeping our physical, mental, and emotional health good. It also helps in improving heart health and strengthens the immune system against modern-day ailments. It also strengthens the immunity against various upper respiratory disorders and keeps our respiratory health naturally good!

The key differences between Anulom Vilom and Nadi Shodhan

 1. Performing steps 

The major difference between Nadi Shodhan and Anulom Vilom pranayama is the way both practices are performed. In Anulom Vilom, you need to perform normal alternate breathing, where you will inhale from one nostril and exhale from the other, and repeat the same during the whole session. Whereas in Nadi Shodhan, you need to inhale through one nostril, hold the breath for some time, and then exhale through the other nostril. Then you have to repeat the same pattern from the alternate nostril. 

2. The Kumbhaka concept

In pranayama and holistic healing, Kumbhaka means retaining the breath! This is an important difference between anulom vilom and nadi shodhana. When you perform anulom vilom, you have to keep the breathing cycle continuous without holding or retaining the breath inside. You will inhale from the right nostril and exhale from the left one! Then you have to repeat the same from the left nostril to the right one. In nadi shodhana, Kumbhaka is performed.

Nadi shodhana has a pause during the practice. This small pause is a vital part of this whole practice. It helps in channelling the body’s energy properly through the respiratory system. That helps in reducing stress and strengthening inner immunity and strength. So in nadi shodhana, Kumbhaka is performed. In anulom vilom, there is no Kumbhaka!!

3. The level of focus

Anulom vilom can be practised by beginners as well because it is one of the basic pranayamas that is practised worldwide!! You can perform anulom vilom during your free hours or even during a break at work. But when nadi shodhana is performed, it requires an extended level of focus and concentration. You can perform nadi shodhana only in a peaceful and uncluttered environment because it requires a unique technique of retaining the breath during the practice. And you have to be very aware when you are holding your breath during nadi shodhana. Therefore, Nadi Shodhan requires much more concentration and focus as compared to the practice of Anulom Vilom pranayama!

4. The level of practice

Anulom Vilom is considered an easier practice of pranayama, whereas Nadi Shodhan is an advanced level of pranayama practice. In Anulom Vilom, the focus is on improving and controlling breathing for a healthy lifestyle, whereas Nadi Shodhan does a more complex job, that is, clearing the blockages in the energy system of the human being to ensure proper flow of prana!! So Anulom Vilom often becomes a base for practising an advanced level pranayama like Nadi Shodhan. Anulom Vilom helps by cleaning and preparing the lungs for taking up a higher level of breath practice like Nadi Shodhan. Therefore, both practices are important for each other!

Conclusion

So if you are thinking that anulom vilom and nadi shodhana are the same, then not exactly. But if you are also thinking that they are two totally different things in holistic living, then you are also wrong because anulom vilom and nadi shodhan support each other!! They are just like the two steps, the two important steps of the same voyage.

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You start with anulom vilom, prepare yourself for entering into a deeper level of practice, which is nadi shodhan. Nadi shodhan helps in unlocking the energy channels, which is really important for performing anulom vilom perfectly. Similarly, anulom vilom helps in strengthening the inner self to perform such an advanced practice like nadi shodhan. The major difference between the two is the way it is performed, the level of practice, and the techniques of breath control.