(Image: Courtesy of Rhea Davda | Design on Canva by Laura Harrold)
Published on June 30, 2026 at 09:14 AM
Even when outside temperatures turn to extreme levels, you can help regulate your indoor thermostat in ways that don’t appear on most how-to-beat-the-heat lists. Practicing cooling yoga poses and breathing techniques can help you relax by shifting your body into a parasympathetic state, where your muscles relax, your heart rate slows, and your heart rate slows. Core temperature tends to drop slightly. This helps you not only feel cooler but also more recovered.
7 cooling yoga poses and breathing techniques
The following cooling yoga poses and breathing exercises can be done at any time of the day, including after an intense workout when you feel hotter than usual.
1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
This restorative pose helps relax muscles—which is exactly why teachers often suggest you “cool down” into Child’s Pose during the middle of an intense physical flow. You can do the same anytime during a hot day.
How to: Kneel on the mat with your big toes together and your knees apart. Walk your toes forward as you lower your chest toward the space between your thighs Child’s position. Place your forehead on the mat or block. Let yourself sink into the mat. Stay here for a few breaths.
2. Crocodile pose
Going all out physically is a quick way to beat the heat. This is what you will experience in Crocodile Pose where your entire body rests on the floor.
How to: Lie on your stomach and extend your legs straight behind you, hip-width apart or wider. Stack your hands on top of each other with your palms facing the mat. Place your forehead on your top hand in crocodile pose. Stay here and take steady breaths for a few minutes.
3. Waterfall
This mode is a more active form of Legs up the wall (Viparita Karani), a pose that is also considered a mudra or gesture. It is believed to draw your energy downward for a grounding effect. It can also be practiced with your sacrum on the mat or on a block held on the underside.
How to: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the mat. Lift your hips off the mat as if you were coming forward Bridge position. Keeping your upper arms on the mat, bend your elbows and lower your hips onto your palms. Your palms should be stacked above your elbows, as if your arms were serving as a support for your hips. Slowly raise one leg toward the ceiling, then the other. Keep your weight on your arms and shoulders, not your neck and head. Take a few breaths here, then slowly lower your hips to the mat.
4. Belly breathing
This is a soothing breathing practice you can do at any time—including while in any of the poses above—to “relax” your body and mind.
How to: Find a comfortable sitting position. Place your hands at your sides or place one palm on your stomach and the other on your chest. Inhale and stop. Then exhale. Continue breathing at a normal pace. Feel your palms moving outward as you inhale and inward as you exhale. Continue for a few rounds. Then practice extending your exhalation slightly.
5. Moon Channel Breathing (Chandra Nadi Pranayama)
Believed to help you channel cooling energy to our closest cosmic neighbours, lunar breathing (also known as single-nostril breathing) helps you slow down and feel more present.
How to: Curl the fingers of your right hand into a loose fist. Keep your thumb straight and use it to gently close your right nostril. Take a steady breath through the left nostril. Continue breathing at your own pace, then switch sides.
6. Cold Breathing (Chitali Pranayama)
This technique in the ancient yoga tradition is believed to lower your internal temperature by drawing moisture from the air around you into your body. It is a recommended practice when you feel overheated or anxious.
How to: Stick out your tongue and roll it inward to form a straw-like shape, or curl the tip of your tongue back toward your throat. Breathe through your mouth to make a hissing sound. Inhale as far as you can, close your lips, pause briefly, and then exhale. Continue for a few rounds, then return to a normal breathing pattern.
7. Corpse Pose (Savasana)
The ultimate relaxation pose is known to make your muscles feel a little cool at the end of a workout, so much so that you’ve probably heard yoga teachers suggest you wear socks or cover yourself with a blanket.
How to: Lie on your back with your hands and feet a comfortable distance from your body and your palms facing the ceiling Savasana. Allow your body to relax and then stay as still as possible, mentally scanning your body from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. Stay here for several minutes.
