The first step in the practice of pranayama is to make friends with the breath. This means getting to know the breath in all its aspects—whether it flows smoothly, deeply, and diaphragmatically or whether it is thoracic and riddled with jerks, pauses, and noise. At this stage, it’s not wise to force changes on the breath; rather, make suggestions with the same gentleness and tact you would use with a new friend.
Once you have acquired the habit of smoothly flowing, silent, diaphragmatic breathing, you can practice other techniques that violate some of the tenets of healthy breathing. Ujjayi, a pranayama that uses sound and requires chest expansion, is one such technique. In contrast with diaphragmatic breathing, in which the throat is relaxed, ujjayi introduces a purposeful tension. Diaphragmatic breathing is silent, while an unwavering, audible vibration is a fundamental characteristic of the ujjayi breath.
The key to ujjayi breathing is constriction of the glottis, the aperture in the throat that opens and closes to hold the breath or to facilitate speech. Constricting the glottis amplifies the normal sounds of respiration. When done properly, this creates a soft vibration which soothes the nerves and calms the mind. This sound naturally draws attention to the breath, and internalizes awareness. This can contribute to a more effective asana practice or can be used as preparation for meditation.
Preparation
Ujjayi is a combination of two Sanskrit words, ut, meaning "up," and jayi, meaning "victory." Ujjayi is the pranayama that helps a practitioner overcome derangement of the vital energy known as uddana, the upward-flowing prana, and the attendant physical and psychological obstacles that occur when this prana is out of balance.
As with other pranayama practices, the starting point for ujjayi is a comfortable, stable sitting posture, such as the easy pose (cross-legged), the siddhasana (accomplished pose), or the swastikasana (auspicious pose). If you are not comfortable in any of these postures, sit on the edge of an unupholstered chair with your feet flat on the floor and your spine straight. Your back should not be rounded nor your shoulders hunched. Once you are comfortably seated, take a few breaths to establish smooth, even, diaphragmatic breathing.
Because ujjayi requires breathing against the added resistance of a constricted glottis, the breath should be deeper than normal. The easiest way to deepen the breath is simply to expand the abdomen fully during inhalation and to contract it completely during exhalation.
Another way of deepening the breath is to expand the flanks and the back by holding a slight amount of tension in the abdomen. This dampens the expansion of the abdomen, which is unfettered in simple diaphragmatic breathing. Thus the entire circumference of the torso expands—the flanks, the back, and the front of the upper abdomen. There will be some movement in the chest, but it will be difficult to discern because the chest and the abdomen will be expanding simultaneously. This method of deep breathing expands the entire lower rib cage slowly and uniformly and may feel more effortless and complete than simply expanding and contracting the abdomen.
To experience this, place your palms on your sides so that your middle fingers follow the bottom edge of the ribs, pointing toward each other. At the end of an exhalation, when the ribs are the most contracted, the tips of your middle fingers should barely touch. During inhalation, the tips of your fingers should pull apart by up to an inch as the rib cage expands.
The Technique
Once you have learned to deepen your breathing, try partially closing the glottis, the aperture in the throat just behind the larynx (Adam’s apple). Closing the glottis is what allows pressure to build up before a cough. It also closes when you hold liquid in your mouth to gargle.
If you partially close your glottis while breathing deeply, the natural sound of respiration will be amplified. The sibilant "sss" will be heard during inhalation and the aspirant "hhh" during exhalation. Although the sound produced by a partially closed glottis is sometimes likened to snoring, there should be no strong vibration of the soft palate as there is in loud snoring. Rather, ujjayi is reminiscent of the sound sometimes made as a person first drifts off to sleep and the breath becomes audible, before snoring starts. Although a louder sound can be made breathing through the mouth, ujjayi is always done by breathing through the nose.
It may take practice to learn how to close the glottis consciously. Sometimes contracting the muscular cords in the neck (those connecting the jaw with the collar bone) creates a reflex tension in the glottis. Try this with deep breathing to see if it helps you produce the correct sound. If so, try to maintain that sound while relaxing the muscles of the neck—this will be necessary as you refine ujjayi.
If you are breathing deeply but still having trouble producing the ujjayi sound, read this sentence in a normal voice. Now repeat it in a whisper. If you pay close attention, you will feel the area of the throat behind the Adam’s apple tense a little as you prepare to whisper. If you hold the same subtle tension in the glottis while breathing deeply, you will find yourself producing the ujjayi sound.
Once you can produce this sound successfully, try making the sound steady as you breathe, without pauses or jerks. A smooth control over the muscles of respiration—the diaphragm during inhalation and the abdomen during exhalation—will help achieve this result. Any unevenness in the breath or unsteadiness in the tension of the glottis will be audible.
You will hear a short pause in the sound of ujjayi after inhalation and exhalation, but don’t allow a pause in the breathing itself. Each inhalation should flow directly into the next exhalation, and vice versa. Inhalations and exhalations should be roughly equal in length. Continue the practice for three to five minutes and then sit quietly. Be attentive to the soothing effects on the mind and the nervous system.
In traditional pranayama, ujjayi is done with a full expansion of the chest, after which the breath is retained. However, without the frequent and close supervision of an experienced teacher, breath retention can be injurious, leading to cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension, and other, more serious, problems. Please don’t experiment with retention on your own.
Using Ujjayi in Asanas
According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, an authoritative yoga text from the sixteenth century, ujjayi can be done while seated or walking. This makes the technique unusually versatile. Some yoga schools in South India routinely incorporate ujjayi with the practice of asana, and have brought this practice to the West. Ujjayi can be done in almost any asana, although it is difficult if the head is arched back, as in the matsyasana (fish pose).
The benefits of doing ujjayi are the same whether the practice is done while sitting or while doing asanas. First, it loosens phlegm in the throat. It also creates a soft vibration that soothes the nerves and calms the mind, which induces relaxation and leads to a deeper awareness of the posture by internalizing the attention.
Maintaining an awareness of the breath in asana practice can be difficult, as assuming the pose, occasional discomfort, and other sensations compete for attention. But ujjayi breathing helps to hold awareness on the breath and can be an effective way to remove irregularities and unevenness in the breath. As the breathing becomes more refined, so does the posture.
The sun salutation series is a good place to start experimenting. Take a moment to establish ujjayi breathing as you stand with the palms pressed together in the prayer position. Each time you arch back with an inhalation or bend forward with an exhalation, continue to breathe deeply without a pause. Your breath should be slow and deep, yet comfortable. Pace the movement to match the breath rather than hurrying or slowing the breath to keep pace with the movement. If you need to rest after each repetition of the sun salutation, do so.
You can also try ujjayi with static postures, such as paschimottanasana (the forward bend). Again, notice how the technique affects your experience of the posture. Be patient with yourself if you forget ujjayi after only a few breaths. Continued practice will enable you to keep track of both the posture and the breath.
Fitting It In
If you are already doing breathing practices, ujjayi can easily be integrated into your pranayama. It can provide a transition from more vigorous practices such as kapalabhati or bhastrika (bellows breath) to quieting techniques such as nadi shodhanam (alternate nostril breath).
If you find it difficult to maintain a regular pranayama practice, try ujjayi while walking to or from work or while taking an evening stroll. Adjust the length of the breath to your pace—you’ll need to breathe more quickly the more you exert yourself.
Ujjayi can also be used during tense moments—while waiting in a slow-moving line at the checkout counter or when you’re stuck in traffic. Even a few breaths will relax and center you. The sound is so low that even a person next to you may not notice it. As with other pranayama practices, ujjayi offers an opportunity to deepen your awareness and to improve your control of the mind and your energy. Give it a try!
Michael Grady lives in northeastern Pennsylvania, where he teaches yoga postures and pranayama.
Yoga International (now Yoga + Joyful Living)
May/Jun 1994
Issue 18