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Sitkari exists because tongue-curling is not a skill everyone has. It produces the same cooling as Sitali by a different route: the breath is drawn in across lightly closed teeth with a soft hiss rather than through a tube of tongue. Anyone who has found Sitali impossible should start here instead of persevering.
What it is
You bring the teeth lightly together, part the lips so the teeth are bare, and inhale slowly across them. The air makes a soft hissing sound on the way in, which is where the name comes from, and it arrives cool. The exhale goes out through the nose with the mouth closed.
The cooling works the same way as in Sitali. Air drawn slowly across the wet surfaces of the mouth picks up moisture and arrives cooler than it would through the nose. The tongue is not doing anything special in Sitali beyond providing a narrow, wet channel, and the teeth provide one just as well.
The tradition treats the two as a pair and uses both for heat, irritability and an agitated mind. What people commonly report is that Sitkari is slightly easier to control, since there is no tongue position to maintain, and that the hiss makes the pace easy to hear. Nothing beyond the immediate cooling is claimed here.
It carries one caution Sitali does not: sensitive teeth. Drawing cool air repeatedly across bare teeth is uncomfortable if they are already sensitive, and the app lists that alongside the shared cautions.
How to practise it
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Sit comfortably
Settle into a comfortable seated posture with a tall, easy spine, and let the shoulders and jaw soften.
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Set the mouth
Lightly bring the teeth together, then part the lips so the teeth are bare. Keep the jaw soft. There is no need to clench hard.
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Sip across the teeth
Inhale slowly through the teeth with a soft hissing sound. The air feels distinctly cool as it passes across the teeth and tongue.
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Exhale through the nose
Close the mouth and exhale slowly through the nose. Repeat for several rounds, keeping the breath smooth and unforced.
How long and how often
The app runs ten rounds, which is three or four minutes. That is a full session and there is nothing to lengthen.
Keep the inhale slow. The hiss is a useful guide: a steady, quiet hiss means the pace is right, and a loud sharp one means you are pulling too hard.
It suits hot weather, the aftermath of exertion, and irritability, and it works in the evening as a calming practice. As with Sitali, practise it in clean, comfortable air.
What usually goes wrong
Clenching the jaw. The teeth come together lightly. Clamping them adds tension in exactly the place a cooling practice is meant to release, and it makes the hiss harsh.
Pulling the breath in hard. A forceful inhale is loud, dries the mouth, and cools less. Slow and quiet does more.
Exhaling through the teeth. The exhale is nasal with the mouth closed. Breathing back out across the teeth dries them and removes the moisture the next inhale needs.
Persisting with sensitive teeth. If cool air on bare teeth is painful, this is the wrong practice for you. Try Sitali if you can curl the tongue, or Chandra Bhedan, which cools without any air crossing the mouth.
Who should take care
Practise safely. Practise in clean, comfortable air. Avoid cold or polluted air, which the cooling makes harsher on the airways. Best avoided if you have a cold, cough, low blood pressure, sensitive teeth, or a respiratory condition. See our full Health & Safety Disclaimer.
Ten rounds, guided
PanchPrana sets up the mouth position and then paces the rounds, so the hiss stays slow and even. Sitkari is one of the 66 techniques that are free to practise in full, with no account needed.
Common questions
Is Sitkari as effective as Sitali?
They do the same job by different routes and the cooling is comparable. Sitkari exists so that people who cannot curl the tongue are not excluded, and many people who can curl it still prefer Sitkari.
How hard should I close the teeth?
Lightly. They come together enough to make a narrow gap for the air, with the jaw soft. There is no need to clench.
Why does it hiss?
The air is being drawn through a narrow gap between the teeth, which is what produces the sound and also what cools it. A steady, quiet hiss means the pace is about right.
Who should avoid it?
The app advises against it with a cold, a cough, low blood pressure, sensitive teeth, or a respiratory condition. Sensitive teeth is the caution specific to this practice rather than to Sitali.
Can I practise it outdoors in winter?
Better not. The incoming air is not warmed or filtered by the nose, so cold air reaches the airways directly. Practise in clean, comfortable air.
