A Cleansing Technique, Not Quite a Pranayama

Kapalabhati, shining skull, is the rapid, forceful exhalation practice of hatha yoga, performed as a repeated series of short, sharp exhalations driven from the abdomen, with inhalation left passive and largely automatic between each forced exhale, producing the bellows like rhythm that gives the practice its family resemblance to bhastrika even though the two are classed somewhat differently within the classical literature.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika notably classes kapalabhati among the shatkarmas, the six cleansing or purificatory techniques of hatha yoga, rather than treating it purely as one of the pranayamas proper, a classification that reflects the tradition's own view of the practice as primarily a cleansing technique for the respiratory passages and sinuses, clearing the skull's air passages as the name suggests, with its breath regulating and energising effects treated as a valuable secondary benefit rather than the practice's primary classical purpose. This dual classification, purification technique with pranayama like qualities, is part of why kapalabhati sits at a slightly different conceptual position within classical hatha yoga than nadi shodhana, ujjayi and the other techniques more straightforwardly grouped as pranayama proper.