The summer months carry the vibrant energy of the Pitta dosha: sharp, hot, and transformative. Just as the sun blazes strongest at this time of year, our internal heat can rise too, showing up as irritability, inflammation, or burnout. Ayurveda teaches us that balance comes from applying opposite qualities, and no matter your dosha type, it is important to integrate practices that balance out the season we are in. When it comes to keeping our bodies moving and breath flowing during the fiery Pitta season, cultivating practices that are gentle, cooling, and grounding is necessary for maintaining harmony and balance within our minds, bodies and spirits. Here are some ways to stay active and keep energy circulating without burning out during this time of year.
Movement for Pitta Balance
Choose Cooling, Non-Competitive Practices
Pitta energy cultivates a desire for intensity and achievement to express the passion that comes along with it, but in summer, pushing too hard can aggravate heat and frustration. Practice gentle yoga, swimming, tai chi, or qi gong are all excellent ways to provide the circulation and strength Pitta craves without the burn. Stretching, dancing, or long hikes near water also bring joy and lightness to the body.
Yoga for balancing Pitta
During Pitta season, yoga is a great option for staying balanced. Restorative Yoga, Gentle Hatha, and slower Vinyasa flows all help soften intensity and release built-up heat. Chest and hip opening yoga poses such as Cobra, Pigeon, and Fish, along with gentle twists and forward folds, support the body in letting go of tension and inflammation. By leaning into slower, soothing yoga practices, it can create space for calm and steadiness.
Practice Early or Late in the Day
Exercise during the cooler times, such as sunrise or evening, and avoid the hottest parts of the day (10 AM to 2 PM). Ayurveda discourages working out in the heat, since it doubles up on fiery qualities and often leads to exhaustion and overextension in the body.
Prioritize Flow Over Force
The Pitta tendency is to override limits. That’s why movement in this season should balance that drive by encouraging tuning inward, not competing. If you sweat excessively, feel overheated, or become irritable, pause and cool down. Maintaining a cooling and grounding exercise practice is not only about the type of exercise you do, but also how you do it. Pitta season teaches us to honor our bodies and remember that it’s okay to listen inwardly, as our body holds the ultimate wisdom about what it needs to stay balanced and healthy.
Breathwork for Cooling Energy
Just as movement can overheat Pitta when done with force, so too can the breath. In Pitta season, the extra heat in the environment often changes the way we breathe without us realizing it. When the body feels overheated, the breath can become shallow and fast, through the mouth, or forceful and strained. That’s why breathwork is especially powerful in Pitta season: it provides a direct way to cool the body and mind from within. The breath regulates our nervous system, calms irritability, and restores clarity. In Ayurvedic and yogic texts, cooling pranayama (breathing) techniques are referred to as shita-karana (cooling actions), designed to balance excess heat.
Sitali Pranayama (Cooling Breath)
Curl the sides of the tongue into a tube, inhale through the mouth, then close the lips and exhale slowly through the nose. This draws in cooling energy and soothes heat in the body.
Sitkari Pranayama (Hissing Breath)
Place the tongue just behind the teeth, slightly parted, and sip in air with a gentle hissing sound. Exhale through the nose. This also calms thirst, reduces heat, and settles irritation.
Chandra Bhedana (Left Nostril Breathing)
Close the right nostril, inhale through the left, then exhale through the right. Repeat several rounds. This practice is especially effective for mental calm and balancing fiery emotions.
Gentle Awareness of the Breath
Simply slowing down and noticing your breath, especially in a cool shaded space or near water, is profoundly regulating. For Pitta, breathwork should never feel forced, and should always be cooling, steady, and easeful.
Closing Thoughts
Movement and breathwork in Pitta season are about cultivating softness, patience, and coolness. By letting go of competition and intensity, we allow space for the body to move with ease and the mind to breathe with clarity. In Ayurveda, this is the art of balance: aligning our inner rhythms with the season’s energy so that heat transforms into vitality, not agitation.
Article by Eliana NunezÂ
Published 08/28/2025
References:Â
Aura Wellness Center, Balance the Pitta Dosha with Yoga, Aura Wellness Center, published May 2023
Frawley, D., Practical Ayurveda: Secrets for Physical, Sexual, and Spiritual Health, Samuel Weiser Inc., published 1998.
Frawley, D., Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization, Lotus Press, published 1999
