How to Learn Ujjayi Breath

Before my last yoga retreat in Costa Rica, I wanted to be sure students were at least familiar with Ujjayi Breath, so I created this tutorial and emailed it to them one week before we arrived in Costa Rica.

Ujjayi pranayama is key in the practice of Forrest Yoga. Ujjayi pranayama down-regulates the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) into the para-sympathetic state, or the rest-digest-repair branch, so it's a great tool for self-soothing when anxiety flares. It also helps you shift into a feeling state and use the breath to perceive internal states. This practice is interoception, or sensitivity to stimuli arising within the body, including hunger, heartbeat, and muscular tension, just to name a few.

If you'd like to learn more about how to use Ujjayi pranayama as part of a therapeutic, interoceptive yoga practice, please contact me.