Alternate nostril breathing: how to do it, what studies found, and using it before bed

Alternate nostril breathing is a yoga technique where you breathe in through one nostril and out through the other, switching sides with your fingers. It takes a few minutes, needs no equipment, and the research on it, while small, points to modest drops in blood pressure and short-term relief from stress.

What is alternate nostril breathing?

Alternate nostril breathing is a slow, nose-only breathing practice from yoga, known in Sanskrit as nadi shodhana. Cleveland Clinic explains that "nadi" refers to energy channels and "shodhana" to cleansing, which is why it's sometimes called channel-cleaning breath. You close one nostril, breathe through the other, then swap.

It's one of several pranayama, or yoga breathing, techniques. Some variations breathe through only one side, such as left-nostril or right-nostril breathing, and studies sometimes compare these with the alternating version. The common thread is that every breath goes through the nose, which warms, filters and humidifies air on the way in, as Cleveland Clinic's pulmonologist describes.

People are sometimes surprised to notice that one nostril already flows more freely than the other. That's normal, and our article on the nasal cycle explains why it shifts through the day.

How do you do alternate nostril breathing?

You do alternate nostril breathing sitting up straight, using your right thumb to close the right nostril and your index finger to close the left. You breathe in through one side, close both briefly, breathe out through the other, then reverse. Cleveland Clinic's version runs like this:

1. Sit tall in a chair or on the floor. Breathe out fully through your mouth.
2. Raise your right hand, with your thumb near your right nostril and your index finger near your left.
3. Close your right nostril with your thumb and breathe in through your left nostril.
4. Close your left nostril with your index finger, so both sides are closed, and hold for a beat or two.
5. Lift your thumb and breathe out through your right nostril.
6. Pause, then breathe in through your right nostril.
7. Close your right nostril so both are closed again, and hold for a beat or two.
8. Lift your index finger and breathe out through your left nostril.

That's one round: in left, out right, in right, out left. Keep each breath slow and smooth rather than deep and forceful. You're aiming for a calm, even rhythm you could keep up for several minutes, not big gulps of air, and the breath should stay quiet through the nose the whole time. Cleveland Clinic's specialist recommends about five minutes at a time and admits the sequence can be hard to remember at first, so don't worry if you lose track early on.

The holds in steps 4 and 7 are short. If holding your breath feels uncomfortable, it's fine to skip them and simply switch sides at the top and bottom of each breath.

What do studies show about alternate nostril breathing?

Studies on alternate nostril breathing mostly show modest drops in blood pressure and short-term effects on mood. The research is real but limited. Many trials are small, few are blinded, and results vary a lot from one study to the next, so the findings are best read as promising rather than settled.

The largest summary is a 2024 meta-analysis in Complementary Medicine Research. It reviewed 14 studies and pooled six randomized trials with 525 participants. Compared with control groups, alternate nostril breathing lowered systolic blood pressure by about 7.2 mmHg and diastolic by about 5.2 mmHg. The authors cautioned that heterogeneity, a measure of how much results differed between studies, was above 75%, and that most studies weren't double-blinded.

A 2024 trial in the International Journal of Yoga looked at immediate effects in 132 adults aged 25 to 50 with normal blood pressure. People were randomly assigned to one of three nostril breathing patterns or a control group. After one session, blood pressure was lower in the alternate nostril group than in the right-nostril group, and mean arterial pressure was lower than in the control group.

A broader 2024 meta-analysis of 15 trials of breathing exercises, which included alternate nostril breathing among other techniques, found average drops of about 7 mmHg systolic and 3.4 mmHg diastolic. Those authors also noted the studies weren't free of bias.

For stress, a 2026 randomized crossover study compared ten minutes of nadi shodhana, ten minutes of 4-7-8 breathing and ten minutes of ordinary resting breathing in 34 university students. Nadi shodhana reduced perceived stress and negative mood more in men, while 4-7-8 did more for women. Standard heart rate variability measures didn't change significantly with either technique, so the benefits showed up in how people felt rather than in those heart measures.

Breathing through the nose may also play a part on its own. In a 2023 study of 20 young adults, five minutes of nose-only breathing gave a lower diastolic blood pressure than mouth-only breathing. Our article on whether nose breathing lowers blood pressure covers that research.

Is alternate nostril breathing good for sleep?

Alternate nostril breathing hasn't been tested as a sleep aid, and we couldn't find a trial that measured sleep after it in healthy adults. Cleveland Clinic notes that it can leave you more alert and suggests it isn't the best choice right before bed, recommending 4-7-8 breathing for falling asleep instead.

That doesn't make it a bad fit for your evening. Its stress-lowering effects in studies are a good reason to use it as part of winding down, just not necessarily as the last thing you do with the lights off. One way to fit it into your evening:

• Do five minutes of alternate nostril breathing after dinner or as you start getting ready for bed.
• Once you're lying down, switch to a slower, exhale-focused pattern such as 4-7-8, which you can do without using your hands.
• If you find alternate nostril breathing relaxes you rather than wakes you up, it's fine to keep it closer to bedtime. People respond differently, as the 2026 study showed.

Whatever you choose, think of a breathing practice as one part of a wind-down routine rather than the whole of it. Pair it with whatever else helps you settle in the evening, and give a new routine a couple of weeks before you judge it.

Our guides to breathing exercises before bed and slow breathing for sleep cover the techniques that suit the last few minutes before sleep.

Is alternate nostril breathing safe?

Alternate nostril breathing is a gentle practice for most people, as long as your nose is reasonably clear. Because you breathe through one nostril at a time, it depends on both sides letting air through. If one side is blocked by a cold or allergies, you may feel short of air, and it's better to wait or clear your nose first.

A few sensible precautions:

• Keep the holds short or skip them, especially when you're new to it.
• Stop if you feel dizzy, light-headed or short of breath, and breathe normally.
• If you have a heart or lung condition, or high blood pressure that's being treated, check with your doctor before starting any new breathing practice and keep taking your medication.
• Treat it as an extra, not a replacement for medical care.

If one nostril is often blocked, our article on how to unblock your nose before bed has practical steps, and nasal breathing exercises covers other techniques that don't need both nostrils to be clear.

Can nasal strips help with nose breathing practice?

Nasal strips can make breathing through the nose feel easier, which helps if a narrow or tight nose makes nose-only practice a struggle. In a 1997 study of 53 athletes, an external nasal dilator strip significantly increased the area of the nasal valve, the narrowest part of the nose, compared with a placebo strip.

No study has tested strips during alternate nostril breathing, and the technique involves pressing on the sides of your nose, so you may find it easier to practice without one and wear a strip at night instead. If your nose tends to feel tight when you lie down, a strip at bedtime is a simple way to keep breathing through it. See how nasal strips work for more.

Our pick (paid partner): TitanAir Nasal Strips

If you want a strip for the night, our pick is TitanAir Nasal Strips. We haven't tested or ranked nasal strips ourselves; this is our recommendation.

Titan describes them as drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands. It says to place the strip just above the flare of the nostrils, on the soft part of the nose rather than the bony bridge, on clean, dry skin without moisturizer. To take it off, Titan suggests loosening it with warm water and peeling slowly from the ends inward. Titan says every batch is third-party tested and certified PFAS-free, and its 30-night guarantee refunds you if your sleep isn't better after 30 nights.

Read next

• Breathing exercises before bed
• Nasal breathing and stress
• The nasal cycle

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.