कुम्भकkumbhaka · retention, like a pot
The types of pranayama, from the texts
3 min read · Updated October 17, 2026 · sources checked October 17, 2026
In short
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists eight kumbhakas (2.44): sūrya bhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī, śītalī, bhastrikā, bhrāmarī, mūrcchā and plāvinī. The Gheranda Samhita gives a different eight (5.46), adding sahita and kevalī. Nadi shodhana and kapalabhati, practised everywhere today, stand outside both lists: one is a purification of the channels, the other a cleansing action.
"How many types of pranayama are there?" The honest answer: it depends on the text you open. The Sanskrit sources do not agree on one list, and two of the most practised techniques today are on none of them. Here is what each source actually says.
The oldest layer: breath in the Upanishads and in Patañjali
Breath regulation is older than the word "kumbhaka". The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad already describes it: the body held straight with its three upper parts erect, the senses gathered into the heart, the breaths restrained, and, "when the breath is diminished, one should breathe out through the nose" (2.8-2.9); the place should be level, clean and sheltered from wind (2.10).
Patañjali then names four kinds of prāṇāyāma, without technique names (Yoga Sutra 2.50-2.51):
| Kind | Sanskrit | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Outer | bāhya | the breath held out, after exhaling |
| Inner | ābhyantara | the breath held in, after inhaling |
| Stopped | stambha-vṛtti | the breath simply suspended |
| The fourth | caturtha | a fourth kind that goes beyond the outer and inner fields (2.51) |
Each becomes "long and subtle" when observed by place, time and number (2.50). This is the frame of the eight limbs; the named techniques come later.
The eight kumbhakas of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
About a thousand years after Patañjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika gives the list most people mean by "the 8 types of pranayama":
सूर्यभेदनमुज्जायी सीत्कारी शीतली तथा । भस्त्रिका भ्रामरी मूर्च्छा प्लाविनीत्यष्टकुम्भकाः ॥
sūrya-bhedanam ujjāyī sītkārī śītalī tathā | bhastrikā bhrāmarī mūrcchā plāvinīty aṣṭa-kumbhakāḥ ||
Sūrya bhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī and śītalī, bhastrikā, bhrāmarī, mūrcchā and plāvinī: these are the eight kumbhakas.
| # | Kumbhaka | Meaning | What you do | Verses | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sūrya bhedana | piercing the sun | in through the right nostril, hold, out through the left | 2.48-2.50 | intermediate |
| 2 | Ujjāyī | the victorious | in through both nostrils with a soft sound in the throat, hold, out through the left | 2.51-2.53 | beginner (simple form) |
| 3 | Sītkārī | the hissing one | in through the mouth with a "sīt" sound, out through the nose | 2.54-2.56 | beginner to intermediate |
| 4 | Śītalī | the cooling one | in through the rolled tongue, hold, out through the nose | 2.57-2.58 | beginner to intermediate |
| 5 | Bhastrikā | the bellows | forceful in- and out-breaths, then a retention | 2.59-2.67 | advanced |
| 6 | Bhrāmarī | the bee's | breathing with a humming sound | 2.68 | beginner |
| 7 | Mūrcchā | swooning | a firm hold with the chin lock, then a slow exhalation, "causing the mind to swoon" | 2.69 | not for self-practice |
| 8 | Plāvinī | floating | the belly filled with air so that the body floats on water "like a lotus leaf" | 2.70 | not for self-practice |
Two practical notes. First, the kumbhakas are not equal: the list mixes gentle practices with risky ones, and the text does not rank them for beginners. Second, every one of them is built around a retention. The simple, continuous forms taught today (ujjāyī without a hold, bhrāmarī without a hold) are modern teaching steps, sensible ones.
Sahita and kevala: the two kinds of retention
Right after the eight, the text says that kumbhaka is of two kinds (2.71): sahita, "accompanied", the retention you practise with a deliberate inhalation and exhalation, and kevala, "alone", when the breath rests by itself, without inhaling or exhaling. One should practise sahita "until kevala is achieved" (2.72). Kevala is a state that may come, not a technique to force.
The Gheranda Samhita's eight
The Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā also counts eight, but not the same ones: "Sahita, Surya-bheda, Ujjayi, Sitali, Bhastrika, Bhramari, Murchha and Kevali" (5.46, Vasu, 1914-1915). Sītkārī and plāvinī disappear; sahita and kevalī become techniques of their own.
From the texts
The Gheraṇḍa's sahita has two forms: with a seed mantra (sagarbha) or without (nirgarbha) (5.47). In the first, the yogi inhales through the left nostril repeating the syllable a sixteen times, holds while repeating u sixty-four times, and exhales through the right repeating m thirty-two times (5.48-5.51, Vasu): the classical 1 : 4 : 2 ratio, in counts of a mantra. Its kevalī rests on ajapā, the "unspoken" mantra so'ham that, the text says, every breath already makes, twenty-one thousand six hundred times a day and night (5.84).
The two that are on no list
| Technique | Where it stands in the texts | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Nāḍī śodhana | the purification of the channels that comes before the kumbhakas (HYP 2.7-2.10; GS 5.36-5.45) | the foundation of most daily practices |
| Kapālabhāti | the sixth of the six cleansing actions (HYP 2.35), not a kumbhaka | taught almost everywhere, often too long and too fast |
Modern techniques such as box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing and resonant breathing are not in these texts at all; their pages explain where they come from.
How to choose
| If you want… | Start with | Then, when it is easy |
|---|---|---|
| to calm down, to prepare for sleep | longer exhalation, bhrāmarī | nāḍī śodhana without retention |
| to steady attention | nāḍī śodhana, the simple ujjāyī | the classical ujjāyī with a short hold |
| warmth and energy in the morning | a few rounds of kapālabhāti, if no contraindication | sūrya bhedana, then bhastrikā with a teacher |
| freshness in the hot season | śītalī or sītkārī | a short hold with the chin lowered |
| a path towards meditation | bhrāmarī, then silent sitting | the inner sound, as in the Gheraṇḍa's bhrāmarī |
A sound rule from the tradition: slow techniques first, forceful ones later, retentions last. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says the breath must be tamed gradually, like a lion or an elephant (2.15). Our pranayama page gives a ten-minute practice to begin, and the breathing exercises for beginners page the simplest ones of all.
Questions people ask
What are the 8 types of pranayama?
In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (2.44): sūrya bhedana, ujjāyī, sītkārī, śītalī, bhastrikā, bhrāmarī, mūrcchā and plāvinī. Another list of eight, in the Gheranda Samhita (5.46), reads: sahita, sūrya bheda, ujjāyī, śītalī, bhastrikā, bhrāmarī, mūrcchā and kevalī.
Which pranayama is best for beginners?
Slow breathing with a longer exhalation, nadi shodhana without retention, the simple form of ujjayi and bhramari. They are gentle, need no retention and are suitable for most people.
Why are pranayamas called kumbhakas in the texts?
Because for the hatha authors the held breath, kumbhaka, like water held in a pot (kumbha), was the heart of the practice. Each technique is named after the way the breath is taken and released around that retention.
Is anulom vilom one of the eight pranayamas?
No. Alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana, often called anulom vilom) comes before the eight kumbhakas in both texts, as the purification of the channels (HYP 2.7-2.10; GS 5.36-5.45).
Sources
- The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translated by Pancham Sinh, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV part 3 (1914), Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
- Svātmārāma, Haṭhayogapradīpikā, Sanskrit text, chapter 2 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 17, 2026
- Srisa Chandra Vasu (tr.), The Gheranda Samhita, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV (1914-1915), lesson 5, Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
- Patañjali, Yogasūtra, Sanskrit text, sūtras 2.49-2.53 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 17, 2026
- Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, Sanskrit text, 2.8-2.10 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 17, 2026
Practise gently and within your limits. Yoga is learnt best with a qualified teacher; this page does not replace one.