Sick of the summer heat?

Find your inner cool. This yoga breathing exercise will help you.

“It’s the most calming of all pranayamas (breathing exercises),” said Beckie Sathre, a 32-year-old yoga instructor at Pensacourt on Langley Avenue, The Club in Gulf Breeze, and Abhaya Yoga Center in downtown Pensacola.

Benefits: Besides helping you cool off and relax, “it brings about balance,” she said.

“Generally, either our left brain or right brain is predominant. And, although we all have male (protective) and female (nurturing) energy, usually one is stronger. This (breathing exercise) balances those out.”

Here’s how to do it:
• Find a comfortable place to sit.
• Keep your spine as straight as possible.
• Hold your right hand up as if you are taking an oath, palm facing forward, fingers extended and elbow rested at your waist.
• Fold your pointer and middle fingers down, gently resting those finger tips on your palm. Keep your other fingers extended, but relaxed.
• With your palm still facing forward, use your right thumb to gently close your right nostril.
• Exhale through your left nostril slowly and evenly for about three seconds.
• Inhale through your left nostril slowly and evenly for about three seconds.
• Release your right nostril, and then, turning your palm toward you, close your left nostril with your right ring finger.
• Repeat the exhale and inhale as you did on the other side.
• Repeat for about 8 to 10 rounds — or “until you feel cool and balanced,” Sathre said — ending with an exhale through your right nostril.