UJJAYI BREATH
Ujjayi (pronounced oo-jai) is commonly translated as “victorious breath,” and has been used for thousands of years to enhance hatha yoga practice. Also commonly referred to as the “oceanic breath,” the sound that Ujjayi provides helps us to synchronize breath with movements during yoga, making the entire yoga practice more rhythmic.
Benefits of Ujjayi Breathing:
Ujjayi has a balancing influence on the entire cardiorespiratory system, releases feelings of irritation and frustration, and helps calm the mind and body. With Ujjayi, there are so many benefits, providing good value for a simple practice. Here are a few benefits you may enjoy as a result of practicing the Ujjayi breath:
· Increases the amount of oxygen in the blood
· Builds internal body heat
· Relieves tension
· Encourages free flow of prana (breath)
· Regulates blood pressure
· Helps yoga practitioner to maintain a rhythm while they practice
· Builds energy
· Detoxifies mind and body
· Increases feelings of presence, self-awareness, and meditative qualities
How to Perform Ujjayi Breath
· Seal your lips and start to breath in and out through your nose.
· Take an inhalation through your nose that is slightly deeper than normal. Exhale slowly through your nose while constricting the muscles in the back of your throat.
Getting the Ujjayi Sound Right
If you’re having trouble getting the right sound for your breath, try this:
With your mouth open, try exhaling the sound “HAAAAH”—it’s similar to the sound you make when you’re trying to fog up a mirror. Get comfortable with this sound to get the hang of the practice.
Close your mouth and attempt a similar sound, feeling the outflow of air through your nasal passages. Once you have mastered this on the outflow, use the same method for the in-flow breath, gently constricting the back of your throat as you inhale.
If you’re doing this correctly, you should sound like waves in the ocean—the inhales can be compared to the sound the ocean makes as the water is gathering up to form the wave, the exhales can be compared to the sound of the waves crashing to the shore. Some people compare Ujjayi breathing to Darth Vader from Star Wars, if that’s helpful.
The root of your problem may be as simple as the effort you exert to perform Ujjayi. It is important to remember that the key to Ujjayi breathing is relaxation; the action of Ujjayi naturally lengthens the breath. Some small effort is required to produce a pleasing sound, but too much effort creates a grasping quality and a grating sound.
To practice the inhalation, focus on creating a soothing and pleasing sound that is unhurried and unforced. I suggest working on your Ujjayi breathing in a seated, relaxed cross-legged position. Imagine sipping the breath in through a straw. If the suction is too strong the straw collapses and great force is required to suck anything through it. Once Ujjayi breathing is mastered in a seated position, the challenge is to maintain the same quality of breathing throughout your asana practice.
Throughout your practice, try to maintain the length and smoothness of the breath as much as possible. Once you find a baseline Ujjayi breath in a pose that is not too strenuous (Downward-Facing Dog for example), endeavor to maintain that quality of breath throughout the practice. Some asanas require great effort, and you may begin to strain in your breath.
Remember, you develop your breath just as you develop your asana practice, you build it just like you do strength and flexibility.
The best advice when learning Ujjayi is to be comfortable. You want to avoid holding your breath or artificially restricting it. That can be a challenge when you’re in a group yoga class, and everyone is trying to “move with breath.” You may find you can’t move with the same breath as others or that you are so focused on breathing you fall behind.
The answer to this is simple… Take extra breaths.
There is NO sacred rule that you cannot take an extra breath as often as you need it. As you continue your practice, you’ll find you will need to do this less and less.
Remember there’s so much going on when you are new to yoga:
· Learning the postures
· Dealing with the foreign words in Sanskrit
· Trying to balance on one leg
· Trying to remember what comes next
· Being presence
· AND breathe, it’s a lot for sure but it gets better as you keep at it.
Dive right into the warming experience of ujjayi breathing with this free Insight Timer playlist: https://insighttimer.com/meditationplaylists/e4Odh6kfWacnNEyxZPQr
*Disclaimer: We offer guidance and support through yoga practice. We are not medical doctors and we always ask you seek approval from your doctors if you have any doubts with your conditions.
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