Y4PS Breath Practice Four: Dirga Pranayama + Ujjayi Sound

Commonly added to the three-part breath in hatha yoga classes, the Ujjayi sound, or ocean-sounding breath, can engage your focus and take you deeper into your practice.

Prepare

1. Sit in any comfortable, upright posture on a chair or the floor
2. Lift the crown of your head a little bit to ensure that your spine is long
3. Rest your hands comfortably on your lap, palms up or down
4. Before you practice each technique, take a “falling out” breath: a single full inhale through the nose, followed by a relaxing siiiiiiiigh out through the mouth  
5. As you sigh out the breath, relax anywhere in your body where you feel excess effort or tension 

Technique 4: Dirga Pranayama and Ujjayi Sound

Commonly added to the three-part breath in yoga classes, the Ujjayi Sound, or ocean-sounding breath, can engage your focus and take you a bit deeper into your practice.

To layer on the Ujjayi Sound, you will simply breathe as you did in your dirga practice, but after a few breaths, experiment with a very gentle constriction at the back of your palate to create the sound of the ocean inside your head (as if you were holding a shell to your ear at the beach). This can be a little tricky at first, so experiment to find the right sensation in your airway; I sometimes cue students to imagine a Darth Vader breath, though at a much gentler and more benevolent level.

Read these instructions below fully on how to master the Dirga Pranayama and Ujjayi Sound technique, and then practice.

1. Breathing in and out through your nose, inhale, feeling your belly expand first, then your ribs, then all the way up to your collarbones – as if you were inflating a pillow (in this case your torso) from the bottom up
2. Taking your time as you exhale, reverse the order, feeling collarbones, ribs, and then belly deflating and relaxing
3. Layer on the ujjayi sound: gently constrict at the back of your palate to hear the sound of the ocean inside your head (as if you were holding a shell to your ear at the beach)
4. Continue to breathe in this manner for about 5 minutes
5. Return to breathing normally and notice how you feel in your body and mind

Y4PS Breath Technique 4: Dirga plus Ujjayi Pranayama Journal Questions

1. What did you notice about this Dirga + Ujjayi pranayama practice?

2.  What did you feel in your body/mind before the practice? After the practice?