On this page
Attention fails in more than one way, and the sessions here treat them separately. A mind bouncing between things needs something different from a mind that has gone dull, and reaching for the wrong one is the usual reason a session does nothing.
What these sessions are
Counting Breath for Focus and Sharp Mind Breath both give attention a task with an obvious edge, which is what a scattered mind responds to. A count is easy to lose and easy to notice losing, and that noticing is the repetition the practice is made of.
Alternate Nostril for Clarity is the classical practice the tradition calls Nadi Shodhan, commonly written nadi shodhana. It is slower than the others and it is the one most people settle on, partly because it occupies the hands as well as the attention.
Mental Reset Breath is the odd one out. It is for the point in an afternoon where you have stopped absorbing anything, and it is closer to a clearing than to a sharpening.
The tradition holds that a steady breath and a steady mind arrive together, and puts breath regulation before concentration practice for that reason. What people commonly report is a usable stretch of attention for the following half hour rather than a transformed afternoon. Any claim about breathwork and cognitive performance would need clinical evidence and is not made here.
The sessions
4 sessions, 7 to 10 minutes. Every session in this collection needs Premium. Four other breathwork collections have a free session in them, and the free tier covers twelve guided sessions across the app.
| Session | Length | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Alternate Nostril for Clarity | 10 min | Premium |
| Counting Breath for Focus | 7 min | Premium |
| Mental Reset Breath | 9 min | Premium |
| Sharp Mind Breath | 9 min | Premium |
Which one to start with
Take Counting Breath for Focus if your mind is jumping. It is the most structured and the easiest to come back to after a lapse, which is the specific problem a scattered mind has.
Take Mental Reset Breath if you have gone dull rather than scattered. Adding structure to a flat mind produces a flat mind following instructions.
Alternate Nostril for Clarity is the one to learn properly. The written guide for it is on this site, and once you know the hand position you have a practice that needs no recording and no counting out loud.
How to use them
Practise before the work rather than during it. A session used as a break in the middle of a task tends to become a way of avoiding the task.
Keep it short. Ten minutes leaves you with attention to spend; thirty minutes spends it.
Sit upright at a desk if that is where the work is. There is no benefit to relocating, and the walk back is where most of the effect goes.
Do not check whether it worked. Monitoring your own concentration is itself a distraction, and the honest measure is what the next half hour produced.
What usually goes wrong
Using a focus session as a break from a task you are avoiding. Ten minutes of breathing is a more respectable delay than ten minutes of scrolling and it delays the same amount. If you are avoiding the work, start the work.
Reaching for structure when the problem is tiredness. A count sharpens a scattered mind and does nothing for a depleted one. Mental Reset Breath, a walk, or sleep are the honest options there.
Practising for too long. These are preparation. A long session leaves most people settled and disinclined to start anything, which is the opposite of the point.
Forcing the alternate nostril practice. Nadi Shodhan is meant to be quiet and easy. If you can hear the breath or you are straining to hold it, shorten everything and leave the retention out.
Before the work, not during it
PanchPrana keeps these short on purpose, because a focus practice that eats the hour it was meant to prepare has not helped. Alternate nostril breathing, the one worth learning by heart, has its own written guide on the site.
Who should take care
These are moderate practices and the cautions attach mostly to the counting and the retention that alternate nostril breathing classically includes.
If you are pregnant, keep the breath easy and leave out all breath holding. If you live with uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma, retinal detachment or epilepsy, take care with counted breathing that includes a hold and leave the hold out; the breathing itself is suitable.
If you have asthma or COPD, keep the counts short and ease off before the breath feels tight. If you have a blocked nose, skip the alternate nostril session rather than struggling through it. If you live with panic disorder or health anxiety, take care with counted breathing, which can read as monitoring; the plainer sessions in the breath awareness collection are a better starting point.
Stop if you feel dizzy, faint, breathless, or if tingling starts in the hands or face, and let the breath settle before standing. Attention that has not held for weeks, or a sustained change in your ability to concentrate, is worth raising with a doctor rather than practising harder at.
See our full Health & Safety Disclaimer.
Common questions
Which session works fastest?
Counting Breath for Focus, for most people, because the structure takes hold immediately. Alternate Nostril for Clarity is slower to arrive and tends to last longer.
Is nadi shodhana the same as alternate nostril breathing?
Yes. The app uses the spelling Nadi Shodhan, and nadi shodhana is the more common transliteration. It is the same practice: breathing in through one nostril and out through the other, alternating.
Can I do these at my desk?
Yes, and the alternate nostril session is the only one that looks like anything, since it uses the hand at the nose. The others are invisible.
How long does the effect last?
What people commonly report is a usable half hour or so. It is preparation for a stretch of work rather than a state you carry through a day.
Should I use these or the creativity sessions?
These narrow attention and the creativity sessions widen it. Use these to concentrate on something defined, and those when you are stuck on something that will not resolve.
