Victorious Breath

Whenever I begin a yoga class I remind students to find their “ujjayi breath”.  Pronounced oo-JuhEYE-ee, the breath is also known as victorious breath.  The breathing practice is done with a slight constriction in the back of the throat that creates an audible movement of your breath through the nose to the lungs.  The technique can be accomplished by exhaling through the mouth with a “haaaaaa” sound, and halfway through the exhale closing the mouth and continuing the exhale and haaaa sound through the nose.

The ujjayi breath is often referred to as the ocean breath because the sound can remind us of the waves crashing on a beach, the wind in the trees or hiss of a cobra.  The breath may be referred to as cobra breath.  The breath that helps us move the life energy , or prana, throughout the body.

The sound of our breath helps us keep our awareness on our practice.  It aides in a moving meditation by allowing the mind to focus on the breath rather than thoughts or external distractions.  The ujjayi breath helps with groundedness, and can be used to gauge our exertion throughout our asana practice.  If we struggle to sync our movements with our breath we know we are reaching beyond our physical means.

Try out your ujjayi breath in your next yoga practice, you just might find it makes a difference!