WHAT IS UJJAYI BREATHING?

Yoga practice, like life itself, begins with the breath. 

Breath provides an endless, all-pervading background, a continuous ebb and flow of sound and perception that unifies, sustains, and informs us on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. Prana is the life giving energy that is carried by the breath. We experience it as a vibratory quality of pure sensation and perception within every nook and cranny of the body.

It is often referred to as “life breath,” or the immediately distinguished characteristic of sensations, in particular the awareness of touch- what you feel within your body as the tissues expand and contract. 

In the Astanga Vinyasa system of yoga, breath is the foundation for the internal forms of the practice. We begin with ujjayi (Sanskrit for victorious) breathing, which serves as the basis for practice whether you’re a yoga beginner or an advanced practitioner. In fact, Astanga Vinyasa yoga is just this: ujjayi breathing with movement tossed in. More advanced practitioners can also learn Ujjayi Pranayâma, which is a very concentrated form of ujjayi breathing and in which there is breath retention and complete internal focus.

To learn what ujjayi breathing is, sit really straight so the belly is happy and not compressed. Bring your awareness internally. Imagine the central line of the body as vividly as possible like an imaginary plumb line running from the crown of the head down through the middle of the chest and abdomen, through the center of the pelvic floor, all the way down to the earth’s core. 

The plumb line serves as a reference point for balance and stability within the body and may also be imagined as any stabilizing factor within the body’s core, say as breath, a shaft of light, or a pattern of energy. To establish the ujjayi breath, imagine that the heart floats on this central axis like a lotus flower floats in a pool of still water. The base of the plumb line is stabilized as the sitting bones, coccyx, and pubic bone drop, causing the pelvic floor muscles to tone. If you are grounded through the root of the body this way and the heart area feels free and open, then breathing is easy. If you are disconnected at any point along that central line-if the heart is constricted, tense, or closed, or if the pelvic floor is asleep-then ujjayi breathing is not happening.

Keeping the lips lightly closed, simply begin to breathe in and out. By closing your lips, the breath moves through the nose, and the mind can focus more clearly. At this point, the eyes become steady in dhrsti (gazing).

This automatically releases the palate and softens the tongue, so it is easy to focus on sensations in the mouth and the stream of breath going in and out through the nostrils. The waves of the breath start the process of alignment, which is merely the intelligence waking up in the center of the body. Just keep listening, allowing the breath to unfold.

Ujjayi breath is characterized by a sound that results from closing the vocal cords a tiny bit while continuing to keep the tongue quiet and the lips softly closed. The breath makes a soft aspirate sound as you both INHALE and EXHALE. It sounds almost as if you were whispering the word ah with lips closed. Whispers are intimate, when you whisper to someone, you usually do not shout, ujjayi has the same intimate quality, you are whispering to yourself, your beloved.

We do this kind of breathing in order for us to observe the breathing easier. Listen to the sound and strength of the breath – it should be smooth, easy and even. During the asana practice, having established the form, flow and sound of ujjaiyi, we learn to move in conjunction with the breath. We inhale during expansive movements – they are expanding uplifting moving up. Exhales are grounding – contracting and allows us to root down towards the earth.

With practice, the pattern of breath and movement becomes intuitive and the effects are astonishing. As we move in and out poses in union with the breath, we may experience a sense of seamlessly joining our inner world of experiences with the external world of perception and our interaction with others. The practice becomes meditative, bringing us closer to samadhi.