Ujjayi or Ocean’s Breath

Vinyasa yoga is a breath-synchronized movement style. Move from pose to pose - synchronized with your breath. Practitioners flow from pose to pose and from pose to pose. The breath we all do during vinyasa is Ujjayi. A deep breathing technique is used to relax and focus the mind. Ujjayi is the breath practice that for some sounds like the ocean. It is often called the victorious breath or nicknamed the Darth Vader breath.

Ocean Breath, also called Victorious Breath or Ujjayi Pranayama, is a breathing technique that uses throat constriction to guide your inhales and exhales. It sounds like waves on a beach. You might know it from yoga classes, but it's worth practicing slowly to get it right. It's great for beginners too!

This breath energizes your body and warms you up. You can use it when you want more energy, focus, or heat in your practice.

Ocean Breath is different from normal breathing. Instead of going into your belly, it moves energy up, even when you inhale. The throat control lets you breathe deeper into your chest.

When doing this draw in your navel and expand your rib cage. As you inhale, your diaphragm lowers and your ribs lift. When you exhale, draw your diaphragm back, your ribs close, and your belly pulls in.

Keep your belly in, your rib cage opens wide, your lungs and chest expand, and your breath goes up to your collarbones.

This technique can help you feel more energized and focused in your yoga practice. Give it a try and see how it feels!

Health and Pranayama

Our breath is becoming a concentration of health. Andrew Weil has spoken about this. The American Lung Association has a list of recommended breathing exercises. Northwestern University has also studied breathing for better health. It is a growing s in modern American Medicine and Western Europe.

Yoga teachers for a very long time understood the role that breath does play in your health. In most yoga I have practiced there was an emphasis on your breath. In yoga, your breath is to calm your mind and focus your concentration. There are other claims that it helps to remove toxins from your body.

The National Institutes of Health has noted in a recent study that Ocean's Breath has been shown to improve your tone of voice and strength of vocal cords.

Practicing this breathing technique has also shown an ability to relax you. This can happen as this technique calms your fight-or-flight response to stress.

For Beginners

Getting Familiar: To get used to this breathing technique, start by breathing with your mouth open. Exhale as if you are fogging up a mirror, feeling the warm breath on your palm. Then try to replicate this sensation with your mouth closed, breathing through your nose while maintaining the throat constriction.

Practice: Inhale deeply through your nose, filling your lungs. As you exhale, maintain the slight constriction at the back of your throat to produce the characteristic ocean sound. Keep both inhalations and exhalations long and smooth.

Focus: Establish a steady rhythm and maintain a consistent volume throughout your practice. The sound should be soft and calming, akin to ocean waves or a gentle whisper.

Expand: Start by practicing for a few minutes each day and gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable with the technique.

How to do Ujjayi Breathing

1. Sit as you would start to meditate. On a cushion or mat. Think of how to breathe when trying to fog a mirror. Practice this once with your mouth open with a hand in front of your face pretending it is a mirror.
2. On your exhales, begin to tone the back of your throat (your glottis or soft palate). Constrict the passage of air. Keep in mind you are fogging a mirror. You should hear a soft hissing sound.
3. Once you are comfortable with the exhale, you can apply the same contraction of the throat to the inhales. You should, once again, hear a soft hissing sound. Your breath may sound like the ocean. (It also sounds like Darth Vader.)
4. When you can control the throat on both the inhale and the exhale, close the mouth. Begin breathing through the nose. Continue applying the same toning to the throat that you did when the mouth was open. This is Ujjayi's breath.
5. Now start to use this breath during your practice. If the teacher tells you to move on an inhale, make it an ujjayi inhale. If you need a little something extra to support you while holding a pose, remember this breath and apply it.

And that is Ujjayi's breath.

Thank you for reading, and let me know how you are planning to integrate this into your practice.