Yoga For Laryngitis And Voice Problems: What Mr Iyengar, The Yoga Doctors And The Research Say

Woke up with no voice? Or does your voice give out by Thursday afternoon, after a week of teaching, coaching, singing or talking over the noise? Your voice runs on breath, posture and a soft, free throat. Those are exactly the things yoga trains. This guide brings together what Mr BKS Iyengar, the medical doctors who worked with him (one of them an ear, nose and throat surgeon with a whole list of poses for the voice) and the modern research say about yoga for laryngitis, a lost or hoarse voice, and the everyday strain of people who use their voice for a living. It also covers laryngitis symptoms and yoga for the voice in Darwin and online. Last updated: 5 November 2026.

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Can yoga help laryngitis and voice problems? The short answer

Yes. Yoga and pranayama (yogic breathing) are well worth doing for your voice, whether it has gone with a cold or wears out from overuse. For a voice that keeps giving out, yoga is a way to help manage it and improve the situation, and the studies are the reason we can say so. An 8-week mindfulness course lowered voice handicap scores in people with voice disorders. Teachers who did ocean breath (Ujjayi pranayama) held notes longer and found it a useful warm-up. Thirty sessions of humming breath (Bhramari pranayama) improved voice measures in two separate groups. In trials with teachers, training in breathing, posture, relaxation and voice exercises gave better voices than doing nothing. Dr J. T. Shah, a medical doctor who was also an Iyengar yoga teacher, who worked closely with Mr BKS Iyengar for many years, lists slow breathing, rest and stress-removing poses for voice disorders, and the research points the same way. People may also choose other professional help as they see fit.

One thing to keep in mind as you read: no trial has yet tested yoga for laryngitis itself, and the pranayama voice studies are small. The teacher trials tested voice training, not yoga, though the overlap is large. In our view as certified Iyengar teachers, careful, well-taught yoga and 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 a lost or hoarse voice

1. Go to a yoga class at your level, several times a week. Standing poses and chest openers build the upright, open chest a voice needs; in the teacher trials, posture and relaxation were part of what helped.
2. Learn humming breath (Bhramari) and ocean breath (Ujjayi) from a teacher. Both lengthen the out-breath, which is the breath you speak and sing on. Both improved voice measures in early studies.
3. Keep the throat, jaw and tongue soft, and the chin level. In Iyengar teaching, a tense throat means you are working from the brain instead of the body. Soften it, and the voice has a better instrument.
4. Speak on the breath: “slowly but not softly”. That is Mr and Geeta Iyengar’s advice to yoga teachers on using the voice. Breathe in through the nose, then let the words ride the out-breath.
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

• Overall evidence: Limited. Best study: Abishek, Bakshi and Bhavanani 2019 tested humming breath in 60 adults with chronic sinusitis. Adding it to usual care gave lower sinus symptom scores at 12 weeks than usual care alone. It looked at sinusitis, not laryngitis.
• Dr J. T. Shah, an ear, nose and throat surgeon: slow breathing, rest and stress-removing poses for voice disorders, each matched with the voice research that supports it; plus his cautions for upside-down poses.
• Managing your voice day to day: what to do on good days, at the first strain, when the voice has gone, and on the way back.
• Mr BKS Iyengar: Lion Pose for clearer speech, recommended to people who stammer; poses and pranayama for tonsillitis, colds and coughs; and a lifetime of teaching about a soft throat and a breath that is never forced.
• Dr Timothy McCall, an American medical doctor and yoga therapist who studied with Mr BKS Iyengar, author of Yoga as Medicine, and Dr Krishna Raman, a medical doctor in Chennai who trained in yoga under Mr BKS Iyengar and has used yoga in his medical practice for decades: stuttering is on Dr McCall’s list; Dr Raman on the jaw, the tongue, the chin and the neck.
• For teachers, singers and people who talk all day: the yoga habits that keep a voice going.
• The research: mindfulness and voice disorders, ocean breath and humming breath for the voice, voice training trials in teachers, and what humming does in the nose.
• Take it further: a free ebook on the breath, our pranayama classes, and classes in Darwin and online.

Camel Pose opens the front of the throat and chest

“You have to speak slowly but not softly.”

What are laryngitis and voice problems?

Your voice box (larynx) sits at the top of the windpipe, behind the bump at the front of the neck. Inside it are the vocal folds, two small bands that vibrate as the breath passes between them. That vibration is your voice.

Laryngitis is swelling of the voice box. The classic laryngitis symptoms are a hoarse voice, a croaky voice, or a lost voice that disappears altogether. It often comes with a cold or a sore throat, or after shouting, cheering or a long day of talking. Usually it settles within a week or two.

Then there is the slower kind of voice problem: the voice that tires, strains or crackles by the end of the week. Teachers, coaches, singers, call-centre staff, preachers, parents of small children and anyone who talks over noise know it well. In Darwin, add classrooms full of fans and air-conditioning, and dry season air. The voice depends on three things: a steady supply of breath, an upright body that lets the breath move, and a throat and jaw free of strain. That is why yoga has so much to offer it.

Laryngitis sits close to sore throats and tonsillitis, covered in our guide to yoga for tonsillitis and sore throats.

What Dr Shah recommends for laryngitis and the voice: an ear, nose and throat surgeon’s yoga

In short: Dr J. T. Shah gave the voice its own group of poses and a list for voice disorders. The parts of it the voice research tends to support are slow breathing, rest and stress-removing poses, meditation and an upright, open chest, so those are the parts we give here.

Who Dr Shah is: Dr J. T. (Jawahar) Shah, a Mumbai ear, nose and throat surgeon, practised yoga from 1963, studied with Mr BKS Iyengar and taught yoga himself from 1985. His book Therapeutic Yoga carries a foreword by Mr Iyengar and colour-codes every pose by the body systems it works.

No other yoga book we hold gives the voice this much attention. His book gives the “phonatory system” (the voice) its own group of poses (p. xvi), and his chart of conditions has a line for voice disorders (pp. xviii to xix), built from forward bends, backward bends, inverted poses, stress-removing poses, two pranayamas and meditation. Rest and calm are on an ear, nose and throat surgeon’s list for the voice, and that is where the research agrees with him most.

From his voice disorders list (pp. xviii to xix), with the research that points the same way:

• Ocean Breath (Ujjayi Pranayama), p. 97: slow, full breathing. The research: after ocean breath, 20 teachers held a note longer with better voice measures, and 80% rated it useful before a day of talking (Usha 2021).
• Corpse Pose (Savasana), p. 95, Six-Gate Seal (Sanmukhi Mudra), p. 101, Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana Pranayama), p. 99, and meditation: rest, calm and quietening the senses. The research: an 8-week mindfulness course lowered voice handicap scores in people with voice disorders (Brown 2023), and a short meditation lowered anxiety and improved how people rated their voices (Becker 2022).
• An upright, open chest: Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I), p. 13, Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana), p. 19, Cobra (Bhujangasana), p. 67, and Camel (Ustrasana), p. 75. The research: voice training that included neck posture and relaxation improved teachers’ voices (Pizolato 2013).

Upside-down poses, in Dr Shah’s words and with his cautions. Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana), p. 53, is in his voice group and on his voice disorders list. That is his clinical view; it has not been tested in a trial. He says people with high short-sightedness (high myopia), high blood pressure, glaucoma, a detached retina, discharging ears or cervical spondylitis avoid inverted poses, and with cervical spondylitis he allows them only with supports and an experienced teacher (p. xiii). He advises easy poses for weeks or months before the harder ones (p. xv). At Flametree, Shoulderstand is learned with a teacher, on blankets, so the neck keeps its curve.

Tell your teacher. If your voice is hoarse or you use it hard for work, tell your teacher; some poses are done differently on those days. If it comes with a cough or a cold, take care to respect the wellbeing of the other students who will be close to you, and think about staying home until you feel better. It depends on how unwell you are. Your teacher will adapt each pose with props, which is how Dr Shah himself said therapeutic work should be done: with an experienced teacher. Classes run in Darwin and LIVE online.

Source: Dr J. T. Shah, Therapeutic Yoga (foreword by Mr BKS Iyengar), Vakils, Feffer and Simons, Mumbai, 1999, charts pp. xvi and xviii to xix, cautions pp. xiii to xv, pose pages 13 to 101. Summarised in our own words; quoted words are his.

“Teachers should roar like a lion outside but be like a lamb inside.”

Warrior I: what it works, in one picture

Warrior I: what it works, and how to do it well

What the pose works

Dr J. T. Shah, a medical doctor who was also an Iyengar yoga teacher, who worked closely with Mr BKS Iyengar for many years, lists what Warrior I works on page 13 of his book Therapeutic Yoga.

• It tones the spine.
• It tones the throat, chest, belly and pelvic organs.
• It strengthens the leg muscles and builds stamina.
• It strengthens all the joints.
• It stimulates the thyroid gland.

After Dr J. T. Shah, Therapeutic Yoga (foreword by Mr BKS Iyengar), p. 13.

Mr Iyengar’s cues and cautions

These points come from Mr BKS Iyengar’s book Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health.

• Set your feet about 1.2 metres (4 feet) apart, toes forward, and raise your arms out level with the shoulders.
• Turn your palms up and stretch the arms straight overhead, parallel to each other.
• Turn the right leg and the whole torso 90 degrees to the right, and turn the left foot in.
• Bend the right knee so the thigh and calf make a right angle, with the knee in line with the ankle. Do not let your weight fall on the bent knee.
• Stretch up from the tailbone and lift the arms from the shoulder blades.

Take care. Mr Iyengar says not to practise this pose if you have high blood pressure or a heart condition. Breathe evenly the whole time. Be guided by your teacher.

Mr BKS Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, pp. 96 to 99.

Condition guides it links to

To read more about the health conditions this pose links to, see these guides from our Yoga For Health Conditions encyclopaedia:

• Yoga for an underactive thyroid
• Yoga for neck pain
• Yoga for bronchitis

What did Mr BKS Iyengar teach about the voice and speech?

In short: he has no entry for laryngitis, but he gives Lion Pose for clearer speech and recommends it to people who stammer, lists poses for tonsillitis, colds and coughs, and taught again and again that the throat stays soft.

• Lion Pose (Simhasana). In Light on Yoga he teaches it kneeling, sitting back on the heels, hands pressing the knees with fingers spread, mouth wide open and the tongue stretched down towards the chin, for about 30 seconds (p. 108). He writes that with continued practice “speech becomes clearer”, so he recommends it to stammerers (p. 109). Of the stronger version from Lotus he says words are “enunciated more clearly” (p. 110).

• No laryngitis entry. Neither Light on Yoga nor Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health has an entry for laryngitis or the voice. The nearest are his lists for tonsillitis (Light on Yoga, p. 432), built on inversions, chest openers, twists and pranayama, and for colds and coughs (p. 419), which lean on inversions, forward bends and ocean breath. In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health his course for colds (p. 276) moves from forward bends and standing poses to supported inversions, then rest.
• Upside-down poses. Headstand and Shoulderstand are central to his lists for tonsillitis, colds and coughs. They are learned with a teacher, step by step, with props, and they are not for everyone: see Dr Shah’s cautions above.
• A tense throat is a warning. One of his teaching sayings, in Iyengar: His Life and Work, is that a tense throat in a pose or in pranayama means you are working from the brain instead of the body. In Light on Pranayama he teaches the chin lock with the face, eyes and tongue soft and the chest lifting to meet the chin.

He opens his lists of poses for ailments with a caution worth carrying: choose with an experienced teacher, and “use common sense and to watch the reactions of your body” (Light on Yoga, p. 413). 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.

“…keep the back skin of the neck passive and the tongue soft…”

What does Dr Timothy McCall say?

In short: laryngitis is not on his list, but stuttering is, and his nose-breathing advice fits every voice user.

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 does not include laryngitis or the voice. It does include stuttering (no. 110), the speech problem Mr Iyengar had in mind when he recommended Lion Pose to stammerers. In our words, from his book:

• 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). For a voice user, breathing in through the nose between sentences also warms and moistens the air before it reaches the voice box.
• A teacher’s practice for the throat. He reports Pandit Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute suggesting ocean breath and humming breath with a meditation on the hollow of the throat. That is one teacher’s tradition, not a research finding, and it counts as tradition.

What does Dr Krishna Raman say?

In short: unclench the jaw, let the tongue rest, keep the chin level and never let the neck be squashed.

Dr Krishna Raman is a Chennai physician who trained in yoga under Mr Iyengar. His book Yoga and Medical Science: FAQ has a section on the ear, nose and throat (questions 438 to 444). His views that bear on the voice, in our words:

• The jaw and the tongue. Do not clench the jaw, and let the tongue rest on the floor of the mouth in the poses and in pranayama. A tongue pressed up to the palate is, in his view, a sign of strain (questions 49 and 182).
• The chin. In the chin lock used in pranayama (Jalandhara Bandha), the chin rests level on the notch at the top of the breastbone. Do not force it down by straining the neck; let the spine lift to meet it (questions 76, 77 and 110). A neck that is not strained is good news for the voice box inside it.
• Shoulderstand on blankets. Folded blankets under the shoulders keep the natural curve of the neck, so the throat is not squashed (questions 187, 188 and 475). Why blankets make Shoulderstand kinder to the neck.

Chin level, shoulders back: the posture a voice needs

Geeta S Iyengar and other yoga voices on the throat and the voice

In short: keep the jaws loose, the tongue soft and the throat quiet, and use the voice slowly but not softly.

• Geeta S Iyengar, Mr Iyengar’s daughter and one of the great Iyengar teachers, wrote Yoga: A Gem for Women. In her hints for the poses she asks for the eyes, ears and tongue to relax and the jaws to stay loose. In meditation she links a loose throat with a calm brain. In her pranayama teaching, as our class notes record it, the head and throat stay quiet and the chest bright. Flametree follows Geeta Iyengar’s approach to pranayama.
• The teacher’s voice. In their Basic Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga, Mr Iyengar and Geeta Iyengar tell yoga teachers how to use the voice in class: raising the voice does not mean speaking fast, and the voice can energise or calm the room. Yoga teachers talk for a living too.
• Dr Loren Fishman, an American medical doctor who studied with Mr BKS Iyengar and teaches yoga through his own programme, does not write about the voice in the material we hold. Dr Shah, the ear, nose and throat surgeon, does: see his section above.

“Keep the jaws loose and do not clench the teeth.”

For teachers, singers and people who talk all day

In short: stand tall, breathe in through the nose, speak on the out-breath, keep the jaw and tongue soft, and give the voice short humming warm-ups and real rest.

This is how the yoga above turns into a working day. It brings together Dr Shah’s list, the Iyengar teaching on the throat, and the parts of the teacher voice trials that overlap with yoga: breathing, posture and relaxation.

• Stand like Mountain Pose. Feet grounded, chest lifted, chin level, shoulders back and down. A slumped chest squeezes the breath, and a pushed-forward chin strains the neck around the voice box.
• Breathe in through the nose before you speak. A quiet nose breath between sentences gives the voice a fresh, moist supply of air. Gasping through the mouth dries the throat.
• Let the words ride the out-breath. Ocean breath trains a long, even out-breath. Speak slowly but not softly, as the Iyengars told teachers. Pace carries further than volume.
• Warm up with a hum. A few short rounds of humming breath before a long day of talking or singing, with quiet breaths between. Humming improved voice measures in trainee singers and in young women. Ocean breath before a long day helped teachers too.
• Soften the jaw, tongue and throat. Check in between classes, meetings or songs: unclench the teeth, let the tongue rest, let the throat go quiet.
• Rest the voice and the nerves. A supported rest after a long day, such as Corpse Pose or legs up the wall, quietens the whole system. Rest is on Dr Shah’s voice list for a reason, and a mindfulness course lowered voice handicap in people with voice disorders.

Humming breath, the warm-up singers can use

Managing your voice day to day: the yogic approach

In short: build the voice up on the good days, ease off at the first strain, rest it when it has gone, and bring it back gently. A steady routine, rest, a calm mind and a slow breath through the nose carry it in between.

• A routine you keep. Two or three classes a week, and a few minutes of breathing on the days between. In the teacher trials, voices improved with steady practice and slipped back when it stopped (Pizolato 2013).
• Rest for the voice and the nerves. Quiet time, early nights and supported poses. Stress shows in the throat; calming the mind lowered voice handicap in people with voice disorders.
• The nose, not the mouth. Nose breathing keeps the air reaching the voice box warm and moist, in class and through a day of talking.
• When and how you practise. Dr Shah advises practising on an empty stomach, best early in the morning (p. xii), and never forcing a pose.

Humming, nitric oxide and the voice: what is known

In short: humming improved voice measures in trainee singers, raises nitric oxide in the nose many times over, and belongs to a family of partly-closed-mouth exercises that voice therapists use.

• Humming and singers. After 30 days of humming breath, 30 trainee singers showed better scores on several acoustic measures of voice quality (Jayakumar 2022). The authors, from an Indian institute of speech and hearing, call for larger studies. In a second study, 24 young women who did 30 sessions of humming breath could hold a note longer and showed better voice measures (Manjunatha 2018).
• A half-closed tract. Voice therapists use exercises that partly close the mouth or lips while sounding, such as humming or blowing through a straw into water. In 61 older adults with age-related voice change, a straw-in-water programme improved voice quality and how people rated their own voices (Kim 2026).
• Nitric oxide in the nose. Humming raised nose nitric oxide about 15-fold in one Swedish study (Weitzberg and Lundberg 2002), by flushing out gas stored in the sinuses (Maniscalco 2003). A French review of sinus science suggests sinus nitric oxide, released by sound vibration, may play a part in speech and singing (Jankowski 2016). That is an idea from a review, still to be tested.
• Balance for the immune system. Laryngitis often comes with a cold. 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. See our immune guide.

What does the research show about yoga for laryngitis and the voice?

In short: no trial has yet tested yoga for laryngitis. An 8-week mindfulness course lowered voice handicap in people with voice disorders. Early studies found ocean breath and humming breath improved voice measures. A strong set of trials in teachers found that voice training, built on breathing, posture, relaxation and voice exercises, gave better voices than doing nothing; those trials did not test yoga, but much of what they taught overlaps with it. None tested Iyengar yoga. Why the difference matters.

Laryngitis

No trial has yet tested yoga or pranayama for laryngitis. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. The studies below are the nearest.

Pranayama and the voice

• After 30 days of humming breath (Bhramari pranayama), trainee singers’ voices scored better on several acoustic measures of voice quality. Jayakumar and colleagues 2022, a before-and-after study of 30 healthy trainee singers in India, with no comparison group. Small, and a clear direction. Read the study.
• Straight after a session of ocean breath (Ujjayi pranayama), teachers held a note longer, with better voice measures; 80% rated it useful before a day of voice use. Usha and colleagues 2021, a before-and-after study of 20 female teachers in India, taught by a yoga professional. Small. Read the study.
• After 30 sessions of humming breath, young women held a note longer and their voices scored better on several measures of clarity and airflow. Manjunatha and colleagues 2018, a before-and-after study of 24 women in India. Small. Read the study.

Mindfulness, meditation and the voice

• An 8-week mindfulness course lowered voice handicap scores and stress in people with voice disorders, while a waiting-list group did not change. Brown and colleagues 2023, a study of 69 people with voice disorders, 36 of them singers. They also reported less physical tension and better speaking and singing voices. Read the study.
• A single 11-minute mindfulness meditation lowered anxiety, and people with voice disorders reported their voices felt better afterwards. Becker and colleagues 2022, 45 people, 26 of them with common voice disorders. Read the study.
• Meditation before voice therapy lowered anxiety, and in the meditation-only group a measure of voice clarity improved. Hoff and colleagues 2026, an exploratory randomised study of 26 people with voice concerns. Small. Read the study.
• Breathing exercises, meditation and yoga each eased distress in ear, nose and throat conditions, in a review of randomised trials by ear, nose and throat surgeons. Kothari and colleagues 2023; mostly early trials, not of laryngitis. Indirect Read the study.

Voice training for teachers

These trials taught breathing, posture, relaxation and voice exercises to teachers, who use their voices more than almost anyone. They are voice training, not yoga, but the overlap with a yoga and pranayama class is large.

• Six weeks of vocal function exercises gave teachers with voice problems better voices, better throat findings and less voice handicap; teachers given no help got worse. Teixeira and Behlau 2015, a randomised trial of 162 teachers in Brazil. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• A full voice exercise programme steadied pitch and loudness and made strained voices clearer; a partial programme did less. Nguyen and Kenny 2009, University of Sydney, a single-blind randomised trial of 40 female teachers with muscle tension in the voice, in Vietnam. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• An 8-week voice education programme more than halved teachers’ voice handicap scores (14.2 to 6.8), while teachers without it got worse (10.1 to 13.7). Faham and colleagues 2015, a trial of 127 primary teachers in Iran, schools allocated at random. The part teachers kept up least was the breathing exercises, which is where a class and a teacher help. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

• Voice training, including neck posture and relaxation, improved teachers’ voices straight away. Pizolato and colleagues 2013, a randomised trial of 102 teachers in Brazil. The gain had faded by 3 months, and the authors say the practice needs to keep going: the case for a regular class. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Voice care and warm-ups improved teachers’ voice quality and cut throat discomfort and voice tiredness, whether taught in person or online. Safi and colleagues 2026, a randomised trial of 20 teachers in Iran. Small. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Three sessions of voice training (warm-up, breathing, projection and resonance) lowered student teachers’ vocal effort and widened their loudness range. Bostyn and colleagues 2026, a randomised trial of 63 student teachers in Belgium; both groups trained and both improved. Not a yoga trial Read the study.

Humming, the nose and the ageing voice

• A straw-in-water voice programme improved voice quality and self-rated voice handicap in more than 80% of older adults with age-related voice change. Kim and colleagues 2026, a before-and-after study of 61 patients in Korea. Not a yoga trial Read the study.
• Humming raised nitric oxide in the nose 15-fold, compared with breathing out quietly. Weitzberg and Lundberg 2002, 10 healthy adults in Sweden. Indirect Read the study.
• The humming rise is nitric oxide flushed out of the sinuses, and the store refills after a 3 minute pause. Maniscalco and colleagues 2003, 10 adults. Indirect Read the study.
• Sinus nitric oxide, released by sound vibration, may play a part in speech and singing. Jankowski and colleagues 2016, a review by French ear, nose and throat surgeons. A hypothesis, not a trial. Indirect Read the study.
• Adding humming breath 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, run by an ear, nose and throat department in India. Indirect Read the study.

Mindfulness and colds

Laryngitis often comes with a cold. Mindfulness courses are not yoga classes, though in our view the two overlap closely. The infection trials are set out in full in our tonsillitis 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. Indirect Read the study.

Iyengar yoga studies

No trial has yet tested Iyengar yoga, taught by trained Iyengar teachers, for laryngitis or the voice. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. “Breathwork” also covers many different things; the pranayama we teach (staircase, ocean, alternate nostril, humming and a gentle shining skull breath) is slow, nasal and taught step by step. In our view an Iyengar trial may well show more than the general studies above. Why the difference matters.

Taking care: what changes in class when your voice is hoarse

In short: on a hoarse-voice day the breath stays soft and is never forced, the throat is never strained, and your teacher may swap some poses.

• The breath is never forced. The ocean breath makes a soft sound in the throat, never a harsh rasp: smooth, in and out through the nose.
• Lion Pose, gently. It is a strong stretch of the mouth, tongue and throat. On a hoarse or raw day your teacher may leave it out. Lion Pose is not a way to rest a tired voice.
• Upside-down poses with care. Mr Iyengar and Dr Shah both use them, and Dr Shah lists who should avoid them (above). Shoulderstand is always done on blankets at Flametree, so the throat is not squashed.
• Tell your teacher how your voice is on the day, so they can pick the right poses for you. If your hoarse voice comes with a cough or a cold, take care to respect the wellbeing of the other students who will be close to you, and think about staying home until you feel better. It depends on how unwell you are.

Yoga, pranayama and mindfulness: how they work together

Some of the studies above tested a mindfulness or meditation course, not yoga. That still counts for our classes. Mindfulness is steady, present attention, and yoga poses and pranayama (yogic breathing) are old routes to that same state. So the research on mindfulness and meditation for voice problems also shows what a good yoga and pranayama class can build. No trial separates which part does the work.

We suggest coming to both a yoga class and a pranayama class. Mr Iyengar taught that asana (poses), pranayama and meditation are not divided, and in our experience the two together do more than either alone. See every class time. We trace the history and the links in Yoga And Mindfulness: Why The Mindfulness Research Points Back To Yoga And The Breath.

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 how to get your voice back, or how to stop losing it, this is the yoga side of the answer: an open chest, a long and easy out-breath, and a soft throat.

• Chest and posture: standing poses, chest-opening backbends such as Cobra and Camel with props, and Shoulderstand on blankets, for the upright, open chest a voice needs.
• The breath, step by step: our pranayama classes teach humming breath (Bhramari), ocean breath (Ujjayi) and staircase breath (Viloma), soft and smooth, the way Geeta Iyengar taught them. New to yoga? We suggest starting with some yoga poses first: asana quietens the mind and makes the breathing techniques easier to learn.
• Rest: every Iyengar class ends with supported relaxation. Our restorative yoga classes suit the end of a long week of talking.
• Classes adapted to the people in them. No one-size-fits-all. A hoarse voice, a cold on the way out and a clear day each get a different class.
• Your teacher’s voice: you will hear the advice above in practice. Iyengar teachers are trained to speak slowly but not softly, and to use the voice to energise or to calm.

Rest at the end of a long week of talking

Read more on the voice, the breath and the throat

• Bhramari pranayama benefits: bumble bee breath, nitric oxide and calm
• Ujjayi pranayama, the Iyengar way
• Nose or mouth? How you breathe, and how to stop mouth breathing
• The science behind chanting and Om
• Sarvangasana, the Iyengar way: why blankets make Shoulderstand kinder to the neck
• Related guides: yoga for tonsillitis and sore throats, yoga for sinus problems and hay fever, yoga for inflammation and the immune system, yoga for asthma, COPD and breathlessness, yoga for neck pain and yoga for tension headache

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, which includes the pranayama classes. 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 and Dr Shah’s poses, with 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 laryngitis and voice problems: questions people ask

Can yoga help laryngitis or a lost voice?

Yes, as a way to help manage it. No trial has yet tested yoga for laryngitis itself, but an 8-week mindfulness course lowered voice handicap in people with voice disorders, early studies found ocean breath and humming breath improved voice measures, and voice training built on breathing, posture and relaxation gave teachers better voices in several trials.

What is laryngitis?

Laryngitis is swelling of the voice box (larynx), where the vocal folds vibrate to make your voice. The voice goes hoarse, croaky or disappears. It often comes with a cold or sore throat, or after shouting or a long day of talking, and usually settles within a week or two.

Does humming help your voice?

In a study of 30 trainee singers, 30 days of humming breath (Bhramari pranayama) improved several acoustic measures of voice quality, and in a study of 24 young women, 30 sessions helped them hold a note longer. Voice therapists also use humming-like exercises that partly close the mouth or lips. Learn humming breath from a teacher, in short rounds with quiet breaths between. If you have a cough or a sore throat, tell your teacher. Take care to respect the wellbeing of the other students who will be close to you, and think about staying home until you feel better. It depends on how unwell you are.

Is Lion Pose good for your voice?

Mr BKS Iyengar writes that with practice of Lion Pose speech becomes clearer, and recommends it to people who stammer (Light on Yoga, p. 109). It has not yet been tested in a trial. It is a strong stretch of the mouth and throat, so on a raw, hoarse day your teacher may leave it out.

What did Dr J. T. Shah, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, recommend for voice disorders?

Dr Shah lists Ocean Breath, Alternate Nostril Breathing, stress-removing poses such as Corpse Pose, meditation and chest-opening poses for voice disorders (Therapeutic Yoga, pp. xviii to xix). The research points the same way: ocean breath improved teachers’ voice measures, and a mindfulness course lowered voice handicap in people with voice disorders.

What voice exercises help teachers?

Trials with teachers found that vocal function exercises, voice education and warm-ups built on breathing, posture, relaxation and resonance gave better voices than doing nothing. The breathing exercises were the part teachers kept up least, which is where a regular class helps. Yoga trains the same breath, posture and relaxation.

How can singers use yoga and pranayama?

Singers use the same things yoga trains: an upright, open chest, a long and steady out-breath, and a soft jaw, tongue and throat. Humming breath improved trainee singers’ voice measures in 30 days. Ocean breath trains an even out-breath, and supported rest quietens the nerves before a performance.

Can stress affect your voice?

In Iyengar teaching, a tense throat means you are working from the brain instead of the body, and Geeta S Iyengar links a loose throat with a calm brain. Dr J. T. Shah puts stress-removing poses, Corpse Pose and meditation on his list for voice disorders. Yoga and pranayama calm the nerves and soften the throat.

Is it safe to do pranayama with laryngitis?

Gentle pranayama is part of our classes on hoarse-voice days: a soft, slow breath through the nose, never forced, with the ocean breath making a quiet sound rather than a harsh one. Tell your teacher how your voice is on the day so the practice can be adapted. If it comes with a cough or a cold, take care to respect the wellbeing of the other students who will be close to you, and think about staying home until you feel better. It depends on how unwell you are.

Does mindfulness or meditation help voice problems?

In a study of 69 people with voice disorders, an 8-week mindfulness course lowered stress and voice handicap scores, while a waiting-list group did not change. Even a single short meditation lowered anxiety and people said their voices felt better. Yoga and pranayama train the same calm, mindful attention.

Where can I do yoga for my voice in Darwin or online?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga and pranayama, including humming breath and ocean 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, Light on Yoga, Simhasana pp. 108 to 110 and Appendix II, pp. 413, 419 and 432; Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health (Dorling Kindersley), colds p. 276; Light on Life (Kindle edition); Light on Pranayama; Iyengar: His Life and Work. BKS Iyengar and Geeta S Iyengar, Basic Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga. Geeta S Iyengar, Yoga: A Gem for Women. Dr J. T. Shah, Therapeutic Yoga (foreword by Mr BKS Iyengar), Vakils, Feffer and Simons, Mumbai, 1999, pp. xii to xix, 13, 19, 53, 67, 75, 95, 97, 99 and 101. Timothy McCall MD, Yoga as Medicine (Bantam), chapter on anxiety, and his June 2019 list of health conditions helped by yoga, no. 110. Krishna Raman MD and S. Suresh MD, Yoga and Medical Science: FAQ, questions 49, 76, 77, 110, 182, 187, 188, 438 to 444 and 475. 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.