Yoga For Sinus Problems And Hay Fever: What Mr Iyengar, The Yoga Doctors And The Research Say

Blocked nose again? Sinus pressure behind your eyes, or sneezing all through hay fever season? Yoga can help you breathe more easily. A small trial found that adding humming breath (Bhramari pranayama) twice a day to usual care gave people with long-term sinus trouble better results than usual care alone, and a hay fever trial found yoga classes opened up nasal airflow. This guide brings together what Mr BKS Iyengar, the medical doctors who worked with him and the modern research say about yoga for sinus problems and hay fever. Last updated: 1 November 2026.

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Can yoga help sinus problems and hay fever? The short answer

Yes. Yoga, and pranayama (yogic breathing) in particular, is well worth trying for a blocked nose, sinus trouble and hay fever. In people with chronic sinusitis (long-lasting swelling of the sinus lining), humming breath added to usual care lowered symptom scores more than usual care alone by 12 weeks. In people with hay fever, 8 weeks of yoga classes gave better nasal airflow and fewer symptoms than no yoga. Humming also raises nitric oxide, a gas the sinuses make, many times over in the nose, which is why the bee breath is so often linked with the sinuses. Mr Iyengar gives yoga courses for colds and for sinusitis, and the yogic nose wash (neti) has a modern cousin, salt-water rinsing, with good research behind it.

One thing to keep in mind as you read: the trials tested yoga and pranayama of many styles, taught by teachers with very different training. No trial of Iyengar yoga for the nose or sinuses has been done yet. In our view as certified Iyengar teachers, careful, well-taught pranayama, learnt step by step, is likely to go further than the average. Why the kind of yoga matters.

The bottom line: five key moves for sinus problems and hay fever

1. Go to a yoga class at your level, several times a week. Poses open the chest, calm the nerves and, with good props, let the head rest supported. Mr Iyengar gives whole courses for colds and for sinusitis.
2. Learn humming breath (Bhramari) from a teacher, and do it every day. In the sinus trial, people did it twice a day, and the gains grew from week 4 to week 12.
3. Breathe through your nose when you can, gently. The nose filters, warms and moistens the air. Never force a blocked nose; let the breath stay easy.
4. Keep the nose clear. Neti, the yogic salt-water nose wash, is an old practice, and modern salt-water rinsing has some of the strongest research of anything for hay fever and sinus symptoms.
5. Start now. New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? 2 free classes, then 10 at half price, in Darwin or LIVE online.

Iyengar yoga is the style we teach at Flametree. During the 20th century, Mr BKS Iyengar was the major person who codified traditional Indian yoga, through his seminal books and widespread teaching. He also pioneered the use of props, so poses can be adapted to almost any body. His style is sometimes called modern classical yoga. This guide is part of our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

This guide in short

• Mr BKS Iyengar: a course for colds and a course for sinusitis, built mainly on supported head-down work. No course for hay fever.
• Geeta S Iyengar: breathe through the nose, and never hold the breath in the poses.
• Dr Timothy McCall: lists rhinitis and sinusitis among the conditions yoga helps, and recommends the neti pot for a congested nose.
• Dr Krishna Raman: nose breathing, fresh morning air, and gentle head-down poses he links with the sinuses.
• Humming and nitric oxide: what humming does in the nose and sinuses, and what is still to be tested.
• The research: 16 studies listed below, with the yoga trials kept apart from the nose-rinsing and humming studies.
• Take it further: a free ebook on the breath, our Immune System Masterclass, and classes in Darwin and online.

“Breathe! Don’t blow like a windmill.”

What are sinus problems and hay fever?

Your sinuses are air spaces in the bones of the face, around the nose, cheeks and eyes. They drain into the nose through small openings. When the lining swells, the openings block, mucus builds up, and you feel pressure, a blocked nose and sometimes a headache or pain in the cheeks, jaw or ears. That is sinusitis. When it lasts 12 weeks or more, it is called chronic sinusitis or chronic rhinosinusitis.

Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) is swelling of the lining of the nose set off by something in the air, such as pollen, dust or mould. It brings sneezing, a runny or blocked nose and itchy eyes. A cold is a short viral infection of the nose and throat. All three come down to the same thing: a swollen, stuffy nose that makes breathing harder. Breathing is exactly what yoga trains.

“Health is firmness in body, stability in mind and clarity in thinking.”

What did Mr BKS Iyengar teach about sinusitis and colds?

In short: he gives a yoga course for colds and another for sinusitis, the second built mainly on supported head-down and inverted poses. He gives no course for hay fever.

In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, Mr Iyengar sets out a yoga approach for 72 health conditions, in the section on the respiratory system. In our words:

• Sinusitis (p. 279). He describes swollen sinus linings with a blocked nose, headache and pain in the jaw, eyes, cheeks or ears. His course is mainly supported head-down and inverted work, with forward bends, standing poses and reclining poses around it.
• Colds (p. 276). He describes a minor viral infection with a blocked nose, sore throat, sneezing, cough and headache. His course moves from forward bends and standing work to supported inversions, then rest: mildly stimulating first, then restful. It ends with staircase breath (Viloma, the breath taken in or out in steps) and the resting pose, Savasana.
• Hay fever. There is no entry for hay fever or allergic rhinitis in the book. The nearest are his entries for asthma, which he says usually comes from allergy or stress (p. 282), and eczema, often an inherited allergy with stress a common trigger (p. 347). Both point to calming the nervous system as part of the answer.
• The right poses for the right person. For every ailment, he warns that wrongly chosen poses can do harm, so the sequence is followed with a teacher (pp. 259 to 263). In his picture, Patanjali is the physician, the poses are the medicine, the teacher is the attendant and the student is the patient.

In Light on Yoga, his first book from 1966, the appendix of poses grouped under ailments (Appendix II) has entries for nasal catarrh (p. 429), and for colds and cough (both p. 419). For all three he leans on inversions and forward bends with breathing practice, naming four pranayamas for catarrh. Some of that breathing includes holding the breath, which in our classes is only taught step by step by a teacher. Hay fever has no entry there either.

We do not publish his sequences. A sequence needs a teacher who can see you and adapt it, which is what a class is for. His asthma course is covered in our guide to yoga for asthma and breathlessness.

Iyengar Yoga UK has published guidance on practising with a cold (“Cold Caution”) and, in October 2025, an article on recovery sequences for colds, immunity and the breath, drawing on the Iyengar institute in Pune. Read Iyengar Yoga UK’s article.

“Inhalation and exhalation should be long, soft, smooth and uninterrupted.”

What Geeta S Iyengar says about breathing in the poses

In short: breathe through the nose, and never hold the breath while you are in a pose.

Geeta S Iyengar, Mr Iyengar’s daughter and one of the great Iyengar teachers, wrote Yoga: A Gem for Women. She does not write about the sinuses, but her breathing hints for the poses go straight to the nose. In our words: breathe through the nose and do not hold the breath during the poses (p. 84), and do not practise in tight clothing, which can push you into breathing through the mouth (p. 82). Flametree follows Geeta Iyengar’s approach to pranayama.

What does Dr Timothy McCall say?

In short: rhinitis and sinusitis are on his list of conditions yoga helps, and he recommends the neti pot for a congested nose.

Dr Timothy McCall is a US medical doctor and yoga therapist, author of Yoga as Medicine and former medical editor of Yoga Journal. His June 2019 list of conditions helped by yoga includes rhinitis, swelling of the nose (no. 98), and sinusitis (no. 103). Yoga as Medicine has no chapter of its own on the nose or sinuses, but he comes back to the nose in other chapters. In our words:

• The neti pot. For a congested nose, he suggests a neti pot with warm salt water once or twice a day (his chapter on anxiety).
• Before bed, for allergies. For a nose blocked by allergies at night, a neti wash before bed, followed by gentle nose blowing rather than forceful shining skull breath (Kapalabhati), which stirs you up rather than calming you (his chapter on insomnia).
• The nose slows the breath. Breathing out through the nose lengthens the out-breath and calms, because the nose gently resists the air. Fast breathing through the mouth does the opposite (his chapter on anxiety).

“Nothing pertaining to pranayama can be forced. That is why it teaches humility.”

What does Dr Krishna Raman say about the nose and sinuses?

In short: breathe through the nose, practise early in fresh air, and use gentle head-down poses, which he links with the sinuses.

Dr Krishna Raman is a Chennai physician who trained in yoga under Mr Iyengar. His book Yoga and Medical Science: FAQ has a whole section on the ear, nose and throat, with questions on colds, a bent nasal septum, sinus infections, allergic sinusitis and recovery after sinus surgery (questions 438 to 444). His views, in our words:

• Nose breathing. Breathing through the nose filters and moistens the air and lengthens the breath (question 82). Start pranayama with the nostrils nearly fully open (question 83).
• Gentle head-down poses. He describes half headstand and a half plough pose as gentler versions that help “heart, lungs, sinus, headache and eye pain” (question 199). His claim, from his clinical experience. Learn them from a teacher.
• Fresh air, early. Where the air is polluted, practise early in the morning, in fresh air, and not on carpet. In the tropics, a short spell of air conditioning is fine (questions 96 to 99). Useful advice for Darwin.
• Go easy at first. He leaves out the strong abdominal lift (Uddiyana) at first for people with sinusitis (question 121).
• Cleansing practices. In his view, the classical cleansing practices, which include neti, are rarely needed (question 103). Here he and Dr McCall see it differently.

“In short, health means awareness and awareness means health.”

Humming, nitric oxide and the sinuses: what is known

In short: humming raises nitric oxide in the nose many times over, by flushing out gas the sinuses already hold. It is the best-known link between yoga breathing and the sinuses.

Nitric oxide is a gas the lining of the nose and sinuses makes all the time. The sinuses hold a store of it. This is what the lab studies in healthy volunteers found:

• Many times over. Nitric oxide in the nose was about 15 times higher while humming than while breathing out quietly, in a Swedish study of 10 adults (Weitzberg and Lundberg 2002). Other ways of measuring give rises of about 2 to 4 times, so a fair summary is “several-fold, and 15-fold in one well-known test”.
• A flush, not a factory. The rise is gas already stored in the sinuses, swept out as the humming vibrates the air between the sinuses and the nose. The peak fades within seconds of repeated humming, and the store refills fully after a 3 minute pause (Maniscalco 2003).
• Better airing of the sinuses. The Swedish authors suggest the better airing of the sinuses during humming is worth testing as a help for sinus trouble.
• Balance for the immune system. Humming, like the other pranayama, helps balance and improve the immune system. As a result it helps the immune system do what it does, including helping to reduce infection. Our immune guide sets out how the slow, calm breath works on the body’s defences.
• Still to be tested. No study has yet measured nitric oxide through a full Bhramari practice, and no trial has yet tested humming on its own for hay fever. Not yet studied is not the same as not working.

Nitric oxide matters well beyond the nose. What it does in the body, and how the humming breath fits the wider immune picture, is covered in our guide to yoga for inflammation and the immune system and in Bhramari pranayama benefits.

“Yoga is an inner bath.”

Neti, the yogic nose wash, and other yoga voices

In short: neti is a long-standing yogic practice, and the yoga writers who use it see it as a way to keep the nose clear for pranayama.

• Neti is an old practice, done for health and to prepare for pranayama. Richard Rosen, a teacher trained in the Iyengar tradition, gives a whole chapter to it in Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals (chapter 12). He describes warm water at about body temperature with a little pure salt, poured through one nostril with the head tilted over a sink. He cites a study of woodworkers who had clearer noses and fewer colds after 8 weeks, and a study of daily salt-water rinsing in chronic sinusitis. That nose washing may also help hay fever, allergies, asthma and bronchitis is his claim.
• The nostrils take turns. Rosen also describes how in most people the freer nostril swaps every hour or two. The yoga tradition reads much into this. We report it as tradition, which counts, rather than a research finding.
• Dr Loren Fishman and Dr J. T. Shah. The two other medical doctors who worked with Mr Iyengar do not write about the sinuses in the material we hold.

If you would like to try neti, ask your teacher to show you. The research on salt-water rinsing is set out below, and it is some of the strongest there is for the nose.

For men: a blocked nose and the yoga gap

In short: a blocked nose, sinus pressure and hay fever affect men as much as anyone, yet far fewer men do yoga.

• Men do far less yoga. In a national survey of yoga practitioners in Australia, 85% were women (Penman 2012).
• What men can do. Come to class. The breathing side of yoga suits men who like something practical: a slow nose breath steadies you under pressure, at work or in sport, and humming breath takes a few minutes a day. Bring a mate or come alone, but give it 12 weeks.
• For men, start here: our free ebook Stay In The Game, on yoga for men.

“Your body is your child, look after it.”

What does the research show?

In short: two small trials, one of humming breath in chronic sinusitis and one of yoga classes in hay fever, both found real gains, and a 2026 review of 12 studies found improvements in sinus symptoms, sleep and stress. Alongside them sit two kinds of study that are not yoga trials: salt-water nose rinsing, the modern cousin of neti, and lab studies of what humming does in the nose. We label those clearly. The yoga trials tested yoga in general, not Iyengar yoga. Why the difference matters.

Yoga and pranayama trials

• Adding humming breath (Bhramari pranayama) to usual care gave lower sinus symptom scores at 12 weeks than usual care alone. Abishek, Bakshi and Bhavanani 2019, a randomised trial of 60 adults with chronic sinusitis in India. Both groups improved; in the humming group the score fell from 39 to 25, beyond the 9 points counted as a change people notice, with the gain clear by week 4. People were asked to practise twice a day. Read the study.
• Yoga classes improved nasal airflow and lowered hay fever symptoms compared with no yoga, and raised an immune messenger (interleukin-2) in the nose. Chanta and colleagues 2022, a randomised trial of 27 adults with hay fever in Thailand: 60 minutes of yoga, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. Small, and a clear result. Read the study.
• Yoga practices, from neti and Kapalabhati to pranayama, poses and relaxation, improved sinus symptoms, sleep, stress and headache. Shetty and colleagues 2026, a scoping review (a map of the evidence) of 12 studies of yoga for sinusitis. Mostly small studies. Read the study.
• Health workers who did pranayama twice a day for 28 days caught COVID-19 far less often: 1 in 123, against 9 in 127. Sarwal and colleagues 2022, a trial of 250 health workers in India, not fully randomised. A side note: it was about COVID-19, not colds or sinuses. Read the study.

Bhramari is pranayama, a named yogic breath with a known method: a slow breath in through the nose, then a long humming breath out. That is what was taught in the sinus trial, and it is one of the five pranayama we teach.

Iyengar yoga studies

No trial has yet tested Iyengar yoga, taught by trained Iyengar teachers, for sinus problems or hay fever. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. The two yoga trials above tested yoga in general, and both found gains.

Mindfulness and colds

These were mindfulness courses, not yoga classes, though in our view the two overlap closely. They are covered in full in our immune guide.

• An 8-week mindfulness course cut the severity of colds and flu by more than half over a winter, and people lost far fewer days off work (16 against 67). Barrett and colleagues 2012, a randomised trial of 149 adults aged 50 and over. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Mindfulness training went with fewer colds and flu in one planned analysis. Barrett and colleagues 2018, a randomised trial of 413 adults. Smaller effects than the first trial; the authors say it was likely too small to be sure. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

Breathing retraining and exercise

• A 5-week nose-breathing retraining programme lowered hay fever nose symptoms, with 92.5% of sessions done and no side effects. Tendulkar and colleagues 2026, a pilot study of 35 adults with long-term hay fever, with no comparison group. This was breathing retraining, not pranayama. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Exercise went with better hay fever symptoms and better airflow in through the nose. Lo and colleagues 2026, a review of 7 randomised trials and 395 adults. Exercise in general, not yoga alone. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

“Breathwork” covers many different things, so it pays to look at what was actually taught. The pranayama we teach (staircase, ocean, alternate nostril, humming and a gentle shining skull breath) is slow, nasal and taught step by step. Why the kind of breathing matters.

Salt-water nose rinsing (the modern cousin of neti)

Neti is the yogic form of nose rinsing. These studies used salt-water rinses in general, not neti pots or yoga, so they are not yoga trials. They show why keeping the nose clear is worth doing.

• Salt-water rinsing gave a large fall in hay fever symptoms, against no rinsing, up to 3 months, with no side effects reported. Head and colleagues 2018, a Cochrane review of 14 trials and 747 people. The authors rate the quality of the evidence as low. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Regular salt-water rinsing in hay fever went with about 28% better nose symptoms, 62% less medicine use and about 31% faster clearing of mucus. Hermelingmeier and colleagues 2012, a review of 10 randomised trials, over 400 people. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Stronger (3%) salt-water rinsing lowered hay fever nose symptoms in adults and children, and lowered antihistamine use. Singh and colleagues 2025, a review of 9 randomised trials and 645 people. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• In chronic sinusitis, stronger salt-water rinsing did better than ordinary salt water for discharge, blockage, headache and overall symptoms. Liu and colleagues 2020, a review of 7 studies. Minor side effects, such as stinging, were more common with the stronger rinse. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Rinsing the nose with a larger volume of salt water did better than a salt-water spray for long-lasting nose and sinus symptoms at every check over 8 weeks. Pynnonen and colleagues 2007, a randomised trial of 127 adults. Symptoms “often or always” were reported by 40% of the rinsing group, against 61%. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

Humming in the lab

These are physiology studies in the lab, mostly in healthy volunteers. They measured what humming does in the nose, not whether it eased symptoms.

• Humming raised nitric oxide in the nose 15-fold, compared with breathing out quietly. Weitzberg and Lundberg 2002, 10 healthy adults in Sweden. The authors suggest the effect of better sinus airing “should be investigated”. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• The humming rise is stored nitric oxide flushed out of the sinuses. It falls with repeated humming and fully recovers after a 3 minute pause. Maniscalco and colleagues 2003, 10 adults. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Early trials of sound and vibration in the nose reported 17 to 31% better airflow in through the nose and less congestion, in hay fever and chronic sinusitis. Alao and colleagues 2025, a review of “acoustic therapy”. The authors link the gains to nitric oxide and mucus clearing, and call for larger trials. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

Two small lab studies did not find a link between humming nitric oxide and sinus disease or sinus size on scans. That is why we describe humming for the sinuses as well supported in the lab and promising in the clinic, with the one clinical trial positive.

How this comes together in a Flametree class

Everything above points the same way, and it is how we teach in Darwin and online. If you came looking for blocked nose breathing help or sinus congestion relief, this is where we start: a calm body, an open chest and a slow nose breath.

• Humming and slow breath: our pranayama classes teach humming breath (Bhramari), staircase breath (Viloma) and the long out-breath step by step, the way Geeta Iyengar taught them.
• The head supported: forward bends with the head resting on a bolster, a chair or blocks, and supported head-down poses when your teacher sees you are ready. This is the pattern in Mr Iyengar’s sinusitis course.
• Nose breathing, never forced: we breathe through the nose in every class. If your nose is blocked on the day, the breath stays easy, and tell your teacher anything you would like them to know.
• Classes adapted to the people in them. No one-size-fits-all. A stuffy nose, a cold on the way out and a clear day each get a different class.
• Gentle and restorative classes: our gentle yoga and restorative yoga classes are a good place to start when you are run down.
• Darwin’s air: if your nose plays up in the build-up or the wet, practise when the air is fresh, as Dr Raman suggests. In the tropics, he says, a short spell of air conditioning is fine.

Read more on the nose, the breath and humming

• Bhramari pranayama benefits: bumble bee breath, nitric oxide and calm
• Nose or mouth? How you breathe, and how to stop mouth breathing
• Yoga and the immune system: sleep, stress and lymph
• Breathwork: benefits and types
• Vagus nerve exercises: six slow ones
• Related guides: yoga for inflammation and the immune system and yoga for asthma, COPD and breathlessness

Take it further

• Classes, in Darwin or LIVE online: new, or away 3 months or more? 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. Already practising yoga? See the non-beginner half price pass. See every class time.
• Masterclass: the Immune System Masterclass with Chris Lalor, Certified Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher and certified Yoga Therapist (Masterclass 3, 25 October 2026), covers humming and nitric oxide, with the poses, the breathing and the reasons, so you can put it into action. It is in the library of the 2026 Sunday Arvo Masterclass series.
• Retreats: a week of daily yoga and pranayama in Bali. See the retreats.

Other conditions are in our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

Yoga for sinus problems and hay fever: questions people ask

Can yoga help sinus problems?

Yes. In a randomised trial of 60 people with chronic sinusitis, adding humming breath (Bhramari pranayama) twice a day to usual care gave lower sinus symptom scores at 12 weeks than usual care alone. A 2026 review of 12 studies found yoga practices improved sinus symptoms, sleep and stress. Mr Iyengar gives a yoga course for sinusitis built mainly on supported head-down poses.

Does yoga help hay fever?

Yes. In a randomised trial of 27 adults with hay fever, 8 weeks of yoga classes three times a week gave better nasal airflow and fewer symptoms than no yoga. Calming the nervous system matters too: Mr Iyengar links allergy and stress in his entries for asthma and eczema.

Can humming help a blocked nose or sinuses?

Humming raises nitric oxide in the nose several-fold, and about 15-fold in one Swedish study, by flushing out gas stored in the sinuses. The store refills in about 3 minutes, so humming is done in rounds. Like the other pranayama, humming helps balance and improve the immune system, which helps it reduce infection. In people with chronic sinusitis, humming breath added to usual care lowered symptom scores by 12 weeks.

What does Mr Iyengar say about sinusitis?

In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health (p. 279), Mr Iyengar describes swollen sinus linings with a blocked nose, headache and facial pain. His course is mainly supported head-down and inverted poses, with forward bends, standing and reclining poses. He says the poses must suit the person, so the course is followed with a teacher.

Is there an Iyengar yoga course for hay fever?

No. Mr Iyengar’s Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health has no entry for hay fever or allergic rhinitis. The nearest are his asthma entry, which says asthma usually comes from allergy or stress, and his eczema entry. A Flametree class adapts the practice to how your nose is on the day.

Is a neti pot part of yoga, and does nose rinsing work?

Neti, the salt-water nose wash, is a long-standing yogic practice, done for health and to prepare for pranayama. Dr Timothy McCall suggests a neti pot for a congested nose. Studies of salt-water rinsing, which are not yoga trials, found a large fall in hay fever symptoms in a Cochrane review of 14 trials, and less medicine use.

Should I do yoga with a cold?

Mr Iyengar gives a yoga course for colds: mildly stimulating poses first, then supported inversions and rest, ending with staircase breath and the resting pose. Go gently, choose a gentle or restorative class if you are run down, and tell your teacher how you feel.

Where can I do yoga for sinus problems and hay fever in Darwin or online?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga and pranayama, including humming breath, at Woolner and Coolalinga in Darwin, and LIVE online across Australia. New, or away 3 months or more? You get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price.

Where this comes from: BKS Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health (Dorling Kindersley), colds p. 276, sinusitis p. 279, asthma p. 282, eczema p. 347, and the principles for ailments, pp. 259 to 263; Iyengar: His Life and Work; Light on Life; The Tree of Yoga; Astadala Yogamala, volume 6; Light on Yoga, Appendix II (pp. 419 and 429). Geeta S Iyengar, Yoga: A Gem for Women, pp. 82 and 84. Timothy McCall MD, Yoga as Medicine (Bantam), chapters on anxiety and insomnia, and his June 2019 list of health conditions helped by yoga, nos. 98 and 103. Krishna Raman MD and S. Suresh MD, Yoga and Medical Science: FAQ, questions 82, 83, 96 to 99, 103, 121, 199 and 438 to 444. Richard Rosen, Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals, chapter 12. Iyengar Yoga UK, “Cold Caution” and “Yoga Sequences for Recovery and Resilience” (2025). Penman and others, Yoga in Australia, 2012 (study). Studies as linked above. Everything else is summarised in our own words.

This page is general information, not medical advice. Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online.