Ujjayi Breathing (Ocean Breath)

How to do it

1. Sit tall, or lie down if sitting is uncomfortable. Relax your jaw and shoulders.
2. With your mouth open, breathe out as if you were fogging a mirror. Notice the soft friction at the back of your throat.
3. Keep that friction, close your lips, and breathe out through your nose. You'll hear a soft, ocean-like sound.
4. Now keep the same light narrowing as you breathe in. This half takes the most practice.
5. Settle into an even rhythm: in with the sound, out with the sound, the same count each way.
6. Keep the sound to a whisper only you can hear. If your throat tightens, make it quieter.
7. To finish, relax your throat and let your breath go silent. Sit for a few breaths and notice how you feel.

Benefits

• Calmer within a few minutes

  The slow, even pace settles your body, and you feel it within a few minutes.

• A sound that holds your attention

  Following the soft sound keeps your mind on one thing. When it wanders, the sound brings it back.

• A steady rhythm for yoga

  Ujjayi gives you an even pace you can keep through a whole flow class.

• Lower resting blood pressure in one study

  After 3 months of daily practice, 60 young adults had lower resting blood pressure and pulse^[4].

What the research says

In the lab, the slow pace matters more than the throat sound. In a 2013 study, 17 healthy adults new to yoga breathed at 6 breaths a minute, with and without the Ujjayi sound, for 2 minutes per condition^[3]. Plain slow breathing with equal inhale and exhale did best^[3]. It gave the lowest systolic pressure and the biggest rise in baroreflex sensitivity, a measure of how strongly your heart rate responds to changes in blood pressure^[3]. The authors found that Ujjayi added little on top of slow breathing^[3].

Longer practice shows changes too, from a weaker study design. In a 2017 study, 60 healthy adults aged 17 to 27 practiced Ujjayi with breath holds, 10 minutes morning and evening, for 3 months^[4]. Resting blood pressure fell from about 121/79 to 117/75 mmHg, and pulse from about 82 to 76 beats a minute^[4]. There was no separate control group, so relaxation in general could explain part of the change.

Some teachers say the throat sound stimulates the vagus nerve the way humming does. That is an analogy, not a measured effect of the Ujjayi sound.

Where Ujjayi comes from

Ujjayi means victorious. It is one of the eight breath-retention practices (kumbhakas) in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th-century hatha yoga manual^[1]. The text describes narrowing the throat so the breath makes a sound as it passes, then holding it^[1]. It also says Ujjayi can be practiced in any posture, even while walking^[1].

Modern yoga took it two ways. B.K.S. Iyengar taught it as a seated pranayama, built up in stages^[2]. Pattabhi Jois made a continuous, hold-free version the background breath of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Spoon guides that plain version, not the full traditional practice.

Tips

• Find the sound with your mouth open first, then close your lips. Starting with a closed mouth is harder.
• Make the narrowing at the back of your throat, not in your mouth or jaw. Keep your jaw loose.
• Quieter is better. If someone next to you can hear it clearly, ease off.
• Let the count set your pace, not the sound.
• Learn the plain version first. Holds and chin locks come later, with a teacher.

Related exercises

• Dirga PranayamaOne smooth inhale through belly, ribs and chest, then a long, easy exhale.
• Alternate Nostril BreathingIn through one nostril, out through the other. A slow, even breath that settles you and clears your head.
• Viloma PranayamaBreathe in small sips with short pauses, then let it all go in one long exhale.