Ujjayi Breathing
From the Archives
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7m 24s
Practice this tutorial to improve and develop your ujjayi breathing.
Nine Quick Keys to Better Ujjayi Breathing
1) Ujjayi sound breathing is done by partially closing the glottis, the space between the vocal folds, as when you swallow, whisper or yawn.
2) Follow the sound of your exhalation by whispering the syllable ham, draw out the syllable, make it long: "Haaaaaaaammmmm". You can do it with the mouth open or closed. Repeat until you feel comfortable simultaneously narrowing your throat, contracting your abdomen and producing a long hissing sound to empty your lungs.
3) Breathe in by imagining that you have no nose or mouth, pretend to draw the breath in through a hole in the throat. Use this method to broaden the palate, feel the pull of the breath across the throat.
4) The out breath is a gentle squeeze that you can feel as a friendly push from top of chest down through the narrowing rib cage, into the withdrawing abdomen, and inward to the base of the pelvis. Refine the squeeze so that it matches the even, rhythmic flow of the breath. Synchronize the smooth sound of your exhalation with the steady contractile squeeze of your ribs and abdomen.
5) The in breath can be experienced as a powerful pull, activated by narrowing the throat and cultivating a gentle suction that results in a circling of the inhalation behind the navel and up to the widening kidneys, into the broadening ribs and finally expanding the chest to mighty capacity.
6) The diaphragm moves up and down along the vertical central axis within the center of your torso with piston like regularity. During the inhalation watch your domed shaped diaphragm: contract, flatten, widen and move down the torso. And the during exhalation observe the diaphragm: release, narrow, move up and assume it's original dome like shape. Use your awareness of the diaphragm's movements within the torso to regulate your breath, to skillfully synchronize the sound with the speed of the breath.
7) Align the sound of your ujjayi breathing with the directional movements of Prana and Apana Vayu's. Listen and follow the apanic route of the out breath as it sweeps down the spine and into to the yoni at the pelvic floor base. Follow the route of the Pranic in breath by following its route up and behind the belly, listen to the upward sweep of the expansive in breath to the top of the chest.
8) To renew the sound of your breath: relax the brain, soften the eyes, and release the eye lids, cultivate receptivity within the inner ears, touch the middle portion of the tongue to the roof of the mouth, broaden palate, release the root of the tongue, soften the jaw, and sip the nectar of breath.
9) Finally simultaneously watch and listen to the ever renewing, cycle of glorious rhythmic breathing within you, tune into the twin sounds of the inseparable pair of opposites whose powerful energetic presence and central location within torso provide the single most potent means of gaining inward directed consciousness.
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