Murcha pranayama (swooning breath): meaning, risks and safer ways to calm the breath

How to do Murchha

1. Only practise Murchha after learning it in person from an experienced teacher, and only if none of the cautions apply to you. Never practise it standing, in water, while driving or alone as a beginner.
2. Sit firmly on the floor in a steady cross-legged pose, with a wall or cushions around you. Empty stomach, eyes closed.
3. Breathe in slowly through the nose for 6 counts.
4. Hold the breath for up to 10 counts, lowering the chin towards the chest (Jalandhara bandha) as your teacher showed you. Keep the face and shoulders soft.
5. Lift the chin, then breathe out very slowly through the nose for 8 counts.
6. Do no more than 3 rounds with normal breaths between them. Stop at the first sign of dizziness, tingling or blurred vision, and breathe normally until it passes.

Murcha pranayama, also written Murchha or Moorchha pranayama, is an advanced Hatha yoga breath hold that aims to bring a light, faint-like stillness to the mind. The name means "swooning" or "fainting". Because the goal is close to fainting, it carries real risks and is not a practice to learn from a page or a timer. This page explains what Murchha is, how it was traditionally done, the claimed benefits, who must never do it, and safer ways to calm your breathing.

Murchha pranayama can cause fainting. Do not try it as a beginner or on your own. Never practise it with high or low blood pressure, heart disease, epilepsy, pregnancy, glaucoma or vertigo, and never in water or while standing.

What is Murcha pranayama? Meaning in English

Murchha is Sanskrit for "fainting" or "swooning", so Murcha pranayama in English is the "swooning breath". The Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists it as the seventh of eight kumbhakas (breath holds). It describes firmly applying the chin lock at the end of the inhale and breathing out slowly, so that the mind becomes inactive and a pleasant, faint-like state arises.

In practical terms, the long hold with the chin pressed down and the slow exhale change blood flow and blood pressure for a moment. That is where the light-headed feeling comes from, and why the practice can tip into real fainting.

About the Murchha timer on this page

The timer uses a 6-10-8 pattern: 6 seconds in, a 10-second hold with the breath in, and 8 seconds out, for 3 rounds. It is a pacing aid for people who have already learned Murchha from a teacher. If you have not, do not use it. This page’s version deliberately stops before any swoon: the moment you feel dizzy, stop holding, lift the chin and breathe normally.

Murcha pranayama steps: the traditional technique

The Murcha pranayama technique shown in the steps above has three parts:

1. Slow inhale through the nose.
2. Hold with the chin lock: the chin drops towards the chest (Jalandhara bandha; see bandhas). Some teachers add a gaze towards the eyebrow centre.
3. Very slow exhale after the chin lifts.

How to do Murcha pranayama well is mostly about restraint: short holds, very few rounds, a seated position with support around you, and a teacher who watches you. A teacher can also tell whether you are ready, usually after months of steady practice with gentler pranayama.

Murcha pranayama benefits: tradition and evidence

The Murcha pranayama benefits described in yoga texts are a quiet mind, a feeling of bliss and preparation for meditation. There are no scientific studies of Murchha, so none of these benefits is proven, and the risk of fainting is real. The same calm can be reached far more safely with slow breathing and meditation; see meditation for beginners.

Murchha vs Plavini and other kumbhakas

Murchha and Plavini are the last two of the eight classical kumbhakas. Plavini pranayama benefits are traditionally lightness and floating; how to do Plavini pranayama is to swallow air during the hold, and it is just as advanced. The Plavini page also covers Plavini pranayama in Hindi, with its traditional benefits. The benefits of kumbhaka pranayama in general are said to be focus and calm, but breath holds are the part of pranayama most likely to cause harm. Among the "7 types of pranayama" often taught today, safer choices are:

• the benefits of Bhramari pranayama: calm and better sleep, with no hold (Bhramari);
• the benefits of Ujjayi pranayama: a steady, focused breath;
• Surya Bhedi pranayama benefits: traditionally warming and energising, but not for high blood pressure.

You do not need 1 hour of pranayama for benefits; 5–15 minutes of gentle practice a day is enough for most people. The benefits of Prana mudra, a hand gesture often held during pranayama, are traditional.

Murcha pranayama precautions: who must never do it

• High or low blood pressure and heart disease. Holds and the chin lock change blood pressure; the risk of fainting or heart strain is too high. See yoga for high blood pressure for safe breathing.
• Epilepsy. Fainting-like states and breath holds may trigger seizures; see yoga for epilepsy.
• Pregnancy, glaucoma and vertigo: breath holds and dizziness are unsafe; see yoga for vertigo.
• Anyone who faints easily, has had a stroke, has a neck injury, or takes medicines that cause dizziness.

If you do faint, lie down with your legs raised until you recover, and see a doctor.

Safer ways: how to calm your breathing and breathe better

Most people who search for Murchha want calm. What is pranayama and its benefits for them? Simply put, pranayama benefits in English: slow, guided breathing that relaxes the body and steadies the mind. Here is how to breathe to calm down without any risk, a form of breathing to calm yourself that anyone can use:

1. Sit or lie comfortably and relax your shoulders.
2. Breathe in gently through the nose, letting the belly rise.
3. Breathe out slowly, a little longer than the inhale. That is how to take a breath that calms you.
4. Repeat for 2–5 minutes, or follow coherent breathing at 5 seconds in and 6 out.

How do you breathe correctly and properly day to day, and how do you get good, sound breathing? Breathe through your nose, low into the belly, quietly. Vibhaga pranayama (sectional breathing into the belly, ribs and chest in turn) helps to fix breathing that has become shallow; its benefits are better awareness of each part of the breath. To stop breathing loudly, slow down and keep the mouth closed; noisy breathing at rest or during sleep can have medical causes, so mention it to your doctor. If you keep getting out of breath easily, see a doctor before you train your breathing; they can help with breathing problems that yoga cannot fix. And note that a "breathing treatment" with a nebuliser is medicine prescribed by a doctor, not breathwork. Learning how to do pranayama and its benefits properly means starting with these gentle methods and building up over months.

Murcha pranayama benefits in Hindi: kya hai, ki vidhi, ke labh

More breathing techniques

Breathing practices are safe for most people when done gently. Stop if you feel dizzy, anxious or short of breath, and ask your doctor first if you have heart or lung disease, high blood pressure, epilepsy or are pregnant.