breathe loud, breathe proud

I've written about it before and I'll write about it again, darn it: the ujjayi breath. Take just a few yoga classes and you'll soon know that the single most important part of the practice is not the poses at all, but this breath. This noisy, raspy breath. The Conqueror Breath. Victorious, Oceanic, The Darth Vader....Ujjayi Breath. Whatever you call it, it is what draws our bodies from one pose to another, keeps our minds centered, activates our parasympathetic nervous system and efficiently floods the entire body with oxygen. Have you grasped the importance? Regular breathing in and out through the nose, chest breathing or cardio-style breathing are just not enough for yoga, physically or mentally. It makes a huge difference to feel the breath on the throat and slow it down significantly. In a group class, surrounded by other audible breaths, we remind each other gently to stay focused and breathe. 

Intentional breathing in daily life is the end result of the ujjayi technique. As we work to control, suspend and calm the breath during our practice, it becomes more natural off the mat as well because we're stronger. We're not just breathing deeply in a yoga class, we're breathing deeply while folded, twisted or lengthened; the lungs and diaphragm need to get stronger and work much harder to fill and expand, so when we're off the mat, strong intentional breathing comes more naturally.

"When we get into a difficult pose, a long hold in Utkatasana (chair pose) or a Navasana (boat pose) that never seems to end, the easiest thing to forget about is the breath. It’s instinct to hold our breath or shorten it. That is the moment when we need the breath most, we need the oxygen. It’s the same thing off the mat." - Source

A lot of people hold back because they feel self-conscious about breathing loudly, but breathing demurely will only hold you back in yoga. So let loose! As a student, I remember struggling to grasp this technique, wondering how my fellow students were making that weird noise. I eventually learned it by trying to fake it. When I specifically tried to make that noise, I realized with surprise that I had it; I noticed how different I felt. If you're not sure you're getting the technique down, try being noisy with your exhales, just sighing loudly with your mouth shut. Even if you feel stupid or think you're just faking it, try it. When you feel that wheezy sensation of air moving through your throat, you'll know you've got it.

"This sound, called ajapa mantra (ah-JOP-ah) or 'the unspoken mantra,' serves three purposes: it helps to slow the breath down, creates a noise to focus awareness on the breath and helps to regulate respiration by continually monitoring and adjusting the evenness of the sound, the smooth flow of breath." -Source

It may sound dramatic, but there is truly little benefit in doing yoga asanas without the ujjayi breath. Working toward this technique will strengthen muscles and mental focus that you didn't even know you had. If you're still feeling like you're missing something or need a different explanation to make it click for you, please ask me or your yoga instructor for help. Cultivating strong, confident breathers and yogis is what we're here for. <3

pajama yoga challenge

When is the last time you've had "one of those weeks?" You know the kind. The alarm blares and the first thought that flickers into consciousness is, "Friday?" For a seemingly endless amount of days, the answer is a resounding, "NO...sucker." Weeks like this can be a vicious downward spiral and before you know it, your whole life is getting lost in the desperate shuffling from one weekend to the next. You may lack energy, feel depressed or stressed. Throughout the day, you might be clock-watching, scatter-brained or unmotivated.

The bad news: this crappy week might be at least partially your fault

The good news: you can reverse the cycle!

I hate to break this to you, but not all crappy weeks are bestowed upon you by a stressful job, relationship, health issues or unforeseen challenges. Besides striving to improve your attitude and being mindful of your many blessings, consider setting aside time each day to practice just 15 minutes of quiet yoga. I know, you don't have any time to set aside, right? Who does? The fact of the matter is: we all have the same 24 hours allotted to 1 day, we just have different priorities. Person A might be ignoring the dirty dishes to go for a run while Person B is furiously polishing the hardwood. Person B might later be sleeping soundly while Person A is lost in the world of Facebook.

You might not realize how much time you spend each day doing things that can wait, are unimportant or feel much more important than they are.

Challenge: set aside 15 minutes for yoga (heck, even 5 minutes) at the same time every single day. Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day, but give it an honest try for at least 1 week. Ideally, sometime in the morning is when you are most in-tune with what your body needs, but just do a few poses...whatever feels right. I would encourage you to practice in your pajamas for convenience, style and comfort. If you already exercise or practice yoga regularly, use this 7 day challenge to work on the spiritual and emotional aspect of it. Don't allow your practice to become another thing to check off your To-Do list or a sequence of meaningless poses.

Morning Yoga 15 Minute Challenge - Shown here with ferocious bedhead AND fierce pajamas!

Some ideas for the daily challenge: Neck rolls and shoulder/arm circles in Mountain or Easy Seated Pose, Forward Fold, Ragdoll, Cat/Cow, Child's Pose, Threaded Needle and Down Dog. Sometimes, that's all I want, need or have time for, but if you feel up to it, move into some controlled vinyasas (Sun Salutations). 

Move slowly and allow time to deepen and breathe into each pose. Along with a strong ujjayi breath (read more about that here), yoga will jump-start your day, loosen tight muscles and get some blood flowing, in turn releasing endorphins, calming the central nervous system, slowing the heart rate, boosting your mood, strengthening the diaphragm and allowing you to better cope with stress throughout your crappy week. PLUS, you get a 15 bonus minutes in your pajamas. ;)

Email or comment to let me know if you're planning to give this a whirl or if you have any questions. Or if you'd rather have no accountability, let me know how it went once you're done!

breathing is important

I remember one of the first yoga classes I ever took. When the instructor babbled on about cultivating the "oojawee," I tuned him out. I didn't know what the heck that meant and anyway, I was too busy gasping for air to think about it. Years later, I did finally figure out what it meant and I'm still working on it. The ujjayi breath may come more naturally now, but the journey in finding strength and focus of the breath is never over.

Ujjayi (ooj-JA-yee) - Sanskrit term for a breathing technique used throughout a variety of yogic practices. The term translates literally to "victorious breath" and is sometimes referred to at the "oceanic breath" due to the sound it produces.

If you're not familiar with the ujjayi breathing method or are not sure you've fully grasped it, here are some helpful tips:

1 Sit tall in a comfortable position, placing one hand on the stomach and one on the chest. As you inhale through the nose, allow the belly to expand like a bellows and notice how your lower hand moves. Even as you inhale the air all the way up into your lungs, the hand on your chest does not move much. Contrary to popular belief, for the most fulfilling and complete breath, our chest only expands slightly from the diaphragm lifting. Chest-breathing is a shallow, incomplete type of breathing that we all have a tendency toward. Breaking that habit in daily life is a benefit of practicing ujjayi.

2 On the exhale, (also slowly through the nose) draw your navel up and back toward the spine, forcing out all the air.

3 Here's the part that might be challenging at first: when you exhale during ujjayi practice, you are meant to close off (or narrow) the glottis located in the back of the throat. This narrowing of that passage helps to lengthen and control the breath, while at the same time, creating an audible noise, as if in a deep sleep.  It's a little hard to grasp at first, but once you get it, you'll feel it.

Check out your glottis. This little space between the vocal cords makes the ujjayi breath possible.

Try it this way: Take an inhale through the nose, and just for this illustration, allow the air to come out through your mouth in a sigh. On the next breath, inhale through the nose once more, but this time, close the mouth completely and still try to force the air out of the mouth. If you don't allow the mouth open, you should feel the air pulling through the back of your throat and hear that audible "oceanic" sound. If you ended up hacking or blowing the air out through your mouth, that's okay. It just takes practice.

Practicing the fundamentals of the ujjayi breath is beneficial whether it's your first time or your thousandth. It really is the most important part of yoga and will carry you through your practice, help you remain focused, lift and strengthen your diaphragm, and create a meditative, soothing sound for all to share. What more could you want from just breathing!?

Keep ujjaying, yogiis! :)