On this page
The idea behind a seasonal practice is that the same body wants different things in February and August, and that a practice ignoring this is working against the year rather than with it.
What these sessions are
The four sessions differ in direction. Spring and Summer are the lighter and more outward of the set, with a fuller inhale and a quicker pace. Autumn and Winter are slower and longer, weighted toward the exhale, and closer to the grounding practices than to the energizing ones.
That mapping is traditional rather than an invention here. Yoga and Ayurveda both treat the year as having qualities that accumulate in the body, and both prescribe practice that counterbalances rather than amplifies them: cooling and settling as the heat builds, warming and enlivening as the light goes.
The practical version is less mystical. Most people are genuinely flatter in winter and more restless in summer, and a practice that acknowledges that is easier to keep than one demanding the same thing in every month.
What people commonly report is that the seasonal framing is what makes them return to a practice, more than any difference between the sessions. Whether the year affects the body in the ways the tradition describes is not something this app claims, and it would need evidence rather than assertion.
The sessions
4 sessions, 10 to 12 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn | 10 min | Premium |
| Spring | 10 min | Premium |
| Summer | 12 min | Premium |
| Winter | 12 min | Premium |
Which one to start with
Take the session for the season you are in. That is the whole design, and there is no progression through them and nothing gained by working ahead.
Go by the weather rather than the calendar if the two disagree, which they often do at the edges of a season and permanently in some climates. A cold wet April is a winter practice.
If you are in the southern hemisphere or the tropics, ignore the month entirely. Take Winter when it is dark and cold and Summer when it is hot, and the sessions work as intended.
How to use them
Stay with one session for the season rather than sampling all four. Familiarity is what makes a practice easy to return to, and a season is long enough to build it.
Practise in the morning for Spring and Summer, which raise alertness a little. Autumn and Winter suit the afternoon or the early evening.
Let the change of session be the marker. Switching once a quarter is a light and workable structure for people who find a daily commitment too much.
Sit upright for all four. None of these is a lying-down practice, including the winter one.
What usually goes wrong
Doing all four to compare them. They are meant to be met one at a time, months apart. Back to back they mostly cancel, since two raise arousal and two lower it.
Following the calendar over the weather. The practice is answering the conditions, not the date. A hot October is not autumn as far as your body is concerned.
Treating the winter session as the lesser one. Slower is not weaker. The winter practice is the one most people find they need and the one they most often skip.
Expecting a seasonal practice to fix a seasonal mood. A flat winter is common and a session helps with an hour of it. Persistent low mood through the dark months is a different matter and worth taking to a doctor.
One session a season
PanchPrana keeps these to four so the practice changes with the year rather than four times a week. Switching once a quarter is a light enough structure to actually keep.
Who should take care
These are moderate practices. The spring and summer sessions are mildly inhale-led and the autumn and winter ones are slow and exhale-weighted, so the cautions differ slightly between them.
If you are pregnant, keep the breath easy throughout and leave out any breath holding. If you live with uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma, retinal detachment or epilepsy, take care with the spring and summer sessions, skip any hold, and prefer the slower autumn and winter practices.
If you have asthma or COPD, keep the breath within a comfortable range in all four and ease off before it feels tight. Cold air and slow deep breathing together can be an irritant, so practise indoors in winter.
Stop if you feel dizzy, faint, breathless or tingling in the hands or face, and let the breath settle before standing. Low mood that arrives every winter and lasts through it is worth raising with a doctor, and a seasonal practice is not a treatment for it.
See our full Health & Safety Disclaimer.
Common questions
Do I have to follow the calendar?
No. Go by the conditions where you are. The sessions are built around light, temperature and how you feel rather than around a date.
Which one should I start with?
Whichever season you are in. There is no introductory session and no order to work through.
Is this based on Ayurveda?
It draws on the same idea, which is that the year has qualities that build up in the body and that practice should counterbalance them. The sessions are breathwork rather than an Ayurvedic protocol.
What if I live somewhere with two seasons rather than four?
Use the two that match. Hot and wet takes the summer session, cooler and dry takes autumn or winter, and nothing is lost by never using the others.
Is there a seasonal meditation as well?
Yes, in the meditation library, and it works through attention and imagery rather than through the breath. These four are the breath-led version and are shorter.
