Experimenting with Breath: The Benefits of Nine Round Breathing August 31, 2026 11:36

Some of the best decisions that I have made in my life have come from embarking on experiments of one sort or another. Trying something new or cultivating a habit with an open heart and curious mind tends to yield positive results. My most recent experiment focused on a specific breathing technique. I have engaged in various types of breathwork over the years, and practiced various techniques intermittently, but I decided to take on a more structured approach. I was curious about how a specific daily breath practice would affect my state of mind, my meditation practice, and my overall health and wellbeing. So, for the past forty days, I have practiced Nine Round Breathing every morning.

I’ve been making the most of this late summer weather and have enjoyed sitting outside on a patio chair to practice this technique among birdsong, spiraling choruses of cicadas, and the sun peeking through a line of maple trees.

Benefits of Breath:

*Nine Round Breathing is a purification practice that clears the three main subtle energy channels of the body.

*It calms the mind.

*It recalibrates and regulates the nervous system.

*It grounds and relaxes the physical body.

*It helps to transform the three poisons (attachment, anger, and ignorance) with the three corresponding antidotes (generosity, patience, and wisdom).

The Three Channels:

Different traditions and lineages will have different interpretations of the subtle body. My practice is rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, and this is a very simplified explanation of a quite complex system.

There are three main energetic channels that reside in the subtle body: right, left, and central. These channels cannot be detected on X-ray or MRI machines because they don’t reside in the physical body, but in the subtle or energetic body. For easy reference, imagine the central channel is a narrow, straw-like tube that begins between the eyebrows, runs up and around the skull and in front of and parallel to the spine. It stops a couple of finger lengths above the navel. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is blue in color.

The right channel is red in color. It begins at the right nostril, travels up and around the skull and runs parallel and to the right of the central channel.

The left channel is white in color. It begins at the left nostril, travels up and around the skull and runs parallel and to the left of the central channel.

All three channels are open at the top, but the right and left channels join with the central channel at the bottom near the navel.

The Nine Round Breath Practice: (note: I prefer to use the surfer hand or “shaka” gesture when doing this practice. It helps to prevent confusion, it fosters a sense of goodwill, and it helps me to “hang loose” and not be too serious 😊)

·       Find a comfortable seated posture on a cushion or chair.

·       Take a few moments to breathe naturally and set your motivation for your practice (i.e.—may this practice today purify any negativity and be of benefit to myself and others).

·       First Round: The Right Channel: using the pinky finger of your right hand, block the flow of air from your left nostril and inhale through your right nostril. Imagine that you are inhaling Generosity. Pause briefly at the base of the inhalation. Block your right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through your left nostril. Imagine that you are exhaling Attachment. Do this for three breaths, in your own time and at your own breathing pace. (Inhale Generosity, Exhale Attachment 3x)

    Inhale Generosity

E   Exhale Attachment

         Pause for a moment, resting your hands in your lap, and take a few natural breaths.

·       Second Round: The Left Channel: using the pinky finger of your left hand, block the flow of air from your right nostril and inhale through the left nostril. Imagine that you are inhaling Patience. Pause briefly at the base of the inhalation. Block your left nostril with your left thumb and exhale through the right nostril. Imagine that you are exhaling Anger. Do this for three breaths, in your own time and at your own breathing pace. (Inhale Patience, Exhale Anger 3x)

     Inhale Patience

     Exhale Anger

·       Pause for a moment, resting your hands in your lap, and take a few natural breaths.

·       Third Round: The Central Channel: Relax both hands in your lap and inhale through both nostrils simultaneously and imagine that you are inhaling Wisdom. Pause briefly at the base of the inhalation. Exhale through both nostrils and imagine that you are exhaling Ignorance. Do this for three breaths, in your own time and at your own breathing pace. (Inhale Wisdom, Exhale Ignorance 3x)

·       Dedicate the merit of your practice (in whatever way makes sense for you: i.e., may all sentient being benefit from this practice).

These are the nine rounds: 3 breaths for the right channel, 3 for the left, and 3 for the central channel.  For my own experiment, I practiced three repetitions of the nine rounds, which took about fifteen to twenty minutes each morning.

Reflections:

So what were the results of this experiment? After practicing Nine Round Breathing for forty days…

·       I have thoroughly enjoyed starting each day with a simple, grounding practice. Sitting outside made this practice a multi-sensory one. I felt warm breezes against my skin, smelled freshly cut grass, listened to cicadas, birds, the wind rustling through trees, the occasional lawn mower, train, the neighbor’s radio, saw the sun rising through maple branches, a visiting rabbit or woodchuck that wandered into the yard. This practice heightened my awareness of my outer surroundings as well as my inner state of being and connection to the natural world.

·       Even on a conceptual level, the idea of taking in positive traits (generosity, patience, and wisdom) and letting go of negative ones (attachment, anger, and ignorance) sets important intentions for the day. Nine Round Breathing is an embodied purification practice, and it heightened my awareness of times when I experienced these traits over the course of the forty days: this is patience (calmly waiting at a stop light), this is anger (a solicitor from a paving company knocking on my door), this is ignorance (scrolling past political propaganda on FB), this is wisdom (not reacting or engaging in ignorant political propaganda). This awareness helped me to catch myself and course correct more quickly.

·       Overall, this practice helped me find and maintain a steady sense of peace. This tranquility extended beyond myself and helped me to be more accepting and less judgmental of others.

I would like to continue this practice even when the seasons change and the temperatures drop. Easing into the day with ease—one inhalation and one exhalation at a time, with intention and purpose—is a meaningful practice that benefits myself and others.

I hope you enjoyed this past month, and I hope September has many pleasant surprises in store for you. Please visit the current Middle Moon Malas collection, and don’t hesitate to reach out via the Contact Us page if you’d like a custom mala or quarter mala for your own practice.