If you’ve ever been to a yoga class, you’ve probably heard the teacher tell you to activate your ujjayi breathing, but what exactly is it, what are the benefits and is it necessary when practising yoga? Yogi and writer Lisa Bowman investigates.
Pranayama, aka the regulation of breath, is a key element of yoga, and you’d be surprised what your breathing can do to the body’s physiological state, especially during challenging asanas (postures). Nasal breathing is encouraged in yoga, as it enables us to take fuller, deeper breaths, and ujjayi (pronounced ooh-jai-yee) is the most common form of that.
Ujjayi (translated as “victorious breath”) breathing involves partially constricting your throat while breathing slowly and deeply through the nose. This results in a feeling of the breath at the back of the throat, creating a sound similar to that of ocean waves gently rolling on the shore.
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What are the benefits of ujjayi breathing?
“Ujjayi breathing aids concentration, as it gives the mind a focal point,” explains yoga teacher Felicity Wood.
“In a yoga class this can help us stay mentally present throughout the practice, allowing us to be fully immersed and helping us stay connected during more challenging poses.
“Ujjayi breathing enhances the rhythmic quality of flowing practices such as ashtanga and vinyasa flow, where movement is linked with the breath. The evenness of the in and out breath allows the practice to become a moving meditation, which aids mental relaxation and focus.”
Lower blood pressure, stress and anxiety
As well as being beneficial for the brain, research shows that ujjayi breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing heart rate and blood pressure.
A study of 30 female PE students asked half the group to complement their training with 30 minutes of ujjayi breathing every day for eight weeks, while the other half trained as normal. The breathwork group reported lower heart rates and blood pressure at the end of the trial. A recent study also revealed that ujjayi breathwork reduced stress and anxiety in Covid patients.
Making harder postures more accessible
I personally find ujjayi breathing extremely effective when struggling in powerful balancing postures, such as warrior III. Concentrating on my breath makes it easier to move through the discomfort and helps me to ignore the part of my brain that’s telling me I can’t do it.
Ujjayi is best used during more dynamic yoga classes like vinyasa, rather than restorative or yin, advises Wood, as we want the body to relax in those practices, rather than stay activated in the throat.
Also, be aware that you’ll struggle to perform ujjayi if your nose or sinuses are blocked up.
How to activate ujjayi breath
Yoga teacher Felicity Wood’s tips on how to activate ujjayi breath:
Ujjayi breath can be activated by slightly tightening the muscles of the throat. As a beginner, it’s easiest to get used to the action by focusing on the out-breath first.
1. Cup your hands in front of your face, imagining that you have a mirror in your hands.
2. Breathe in normally through your nose and, as you breathe out, open your mouth making an ‘Ahhhhhhhh’ sound, as if you are trying to fog the mirror in front of you.
3. Repeat this a few times, paying attention to the feeling of the muscles tightening in the back of your throat.
4. Once you are familiar with this feeling, release your hands and close your mouth. Continue to breathe in normally through the nose, and on the out breath, recreate the same feeling of tightening the back of the throat, this time breathing out through your nose.
5. Once you are familiar with the practice on the out breath, you can then introduce the same action on the in breath, so every breath cycle includes ujjayi breathing for both the inhalation and exhalation.
6. Bear in mind that it shouldn’t feel like you are straining your throat – keep the sound soft, and rest if you feel any discomfort. Start with practising for five minutes per day, and with regular practice, the strength and control of your throat muscles can be built over time.
Nope, you shouldn’t be able to hear other people doing ujjayi breathing in class
If you’re doing ujjayi breathing correctly, you shouldn’t be making enough noise to bother the person on the mat next to you in class.
“The noise produced while doing ujjayi should be very gentle and heard only by the one doing it,” advises yoga teacher Nana Sklevicky Majer.
“If we hear a loud sound, that’s the result of improper practice of ujjayi, which results in the creation of a lot of tension in the body of the practitioner – the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve.
“The yoga practice should be used to release tension from our body, not add to it.”
If someone near you is making a bit of a racket with their breath, then that’s all part of yoga, baby. I once moaned about this to a yoga teacher friend and she reminded me that yoga is all about looking inward, eventually getting to a state where outside distractions don’t bother you.
Can ujjayi breathing *only* be used during yoga?
I love nadi shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) for when I’m feeling stressed and overwhelmed, but if I’m in public? You guessed it – ujjayi. It’s so subtle that it can be practised at your desk, on the Tube or while standing in line at the supermarket.
“Ujjayi breathing helps with mental focus and slows down our breathing rate, which can heighten the stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system,” says Wood.
“This makes it a great everyday tool to boost concentration and manage feelings of stress or anxiety.”
For more yoga and breathing tips, visit the Strong Women Training Club.
Images: Getty
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