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Water + Wellness = Strength
Transport Yourself.
The Ujjayi Breath, also known as the ocean breath because of the soothing sounds that your body makes with this exercise, can calm your mind by transporting you to sunny days by the water’s edge.
Benefits and when to use Ujjayi Breathing
With a release of feelings of irritation and frustration, it has a balancing influence on the cardiorespiratory system. With simple practice, here are some of the benefits:
- Relieves tension
- Builds energy and increases the amount of oxygen in the blood
- Helps regulate blood pressure
- Detoxifies the mind and body
- Increases feelings of presence, self-awareness and meditative qualities
Ujjayi Breath can be used in situations where you feel agitated or stressed. It helps to calm the mind, and you should immediately feel a soothing effect. During exercise, Ujjayi Breathing can help with respiratory efficiency. It takes some time and experimentation to get this technique right, but it should reduce wear and tear on your body over the long term.
The slow and rhythmic nature of the Ujjayi breath is incredibly helpful in calming nerves. Next time you find yourself with a case of butterflies, try some Ujjayi Breathing to settle the worries.
When practising Ujjayi Breath, you are also stimulating the vagus nerve. This nerve runs through your throat and vocal cords. It is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, connected to the rest and digestion function of the body. By controlling this nerve, you can help stimulate a relaxation response. For more information, see this great post from Kalindi Yoga.
How to perform Ujjayi Breath
Start by sitting comfortably, and roll your shoulders up and back. Begin to deepen your breath, inhaling through the nose slightly deeper than normal and exhaling with a soft audible ‘haaaah’ through your mouth as if you are fogging up a window pane with your breath. Feel a slight contraction in the back of your throat, transforming your breath into the soothing sounds of the ocean.
When comfortable with this gentle tightening in the back of the throat, close your mouth and continue the exercise by breathing in and out through the nose.
Try to continue making sounds of the ocean with your mouth now closed. The inhales can be compared to the sounds the water makes as it gathers up to form the wave, and the exhales can be compared to the sounds the waves make when crashing onto the shore.
Stay mindful to the sound of your breath and feel your worries drift further and further away from you.
Start practising Ujjayi Breath today and improve your Water Wellness.
Find out here more about Water Wellness, resources and guides to help.
There is only one of you. Find your inner strength. Live your best life.
Water + Wellness = Strength
Gill is a full-time water lover, writer and creator of Water Wellness. Whilst spending several years in Australia, she found a passion for being by or on the water whilst camping in the great outdoors.
After a recent battle of kicking cancer’s butt, she found herself realigning her important values and purpose in life. Now back living on the stunning South Coast of the UK, she is inspiring and educating others on the power of Water Wellness – a holistic lifestyle concept including emotional, spiritual, physical, intellectual, social and occupational dimensions, where the impact of being in, on, under or by the water during times of struggle is legendary.
When she can’t be found in a daydream near the water or bobbing on a kayak, you’ll catch her planning her next travel adventure or journaling to appreciate how great life really can be.
