Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath)

Namaskaram

Image courtesy of www.allwomenstalk.com

Sleep is a very important factor  for a healthy life. It is important to have a deep, peaceful sleep. As important it is to have a beautiful sleep, it is equally to sleep without bothering the person next to you. Yes, I am talking about snoring.

Recently, my aunty asked me what can she do to stop her snoring. What is snoring and why do we snore?

Snoring is not an illness, but it is a symptom. Just as a cough can be a symptom of pneumonia, snoring can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by snoring, labored breathing and repetitive obstructed pauses or gasps in a person¿s breathing during sleep. The obstructed pauses result from complete obstruction or blockage of the airway and may be associated with decreases in oxygen levels. - Excerpt from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-snore/

Snoring could be an indication of a sleep disorder called Obstructive sleep apnea. Snoring is highly associated with the throat region and the airway in that region being obstructed with smaller airway. During sleep our entire body muscles go into a relaxed state, this also includes the muscles in the throat region. When these muscles relaxes and decreases in size, it could create a smaller air passage for the air to move. This difficulty creates the vibration in this area that produces the snoring sound. 

Like i have mentioned before in my previous posts on pranayama, breath is life, the body moves, improves, heals because of breath. With important pranayama practices, your body can be healthy and young for a very long time. Hence, i decided to recommend ujjayi pranayama to my aunty to improve her snoring problem. 

The Victorious Breath

First, you need to get the sound right:-

1. To get the sound of ujjayi
2. Put a hand with the palm facing the face about 3 inches away.
3. Open your mouth and breath out and in. Listen carefully to the sound.
4. If you aren't clear on the sound of ujjayi. Watch this video from Youtube.

Now to the practice

1. Sit in a comfortable position. Possibly, padmasana or sukhasana.
2. Keep your body in a relaxed manner
3. Close your mouth, close your eyes. 
4. Now breathe in producing the same sound by contracting your throat muscles.
5. Breathe out the same way.
6. Repeat this about 5 times.
7. This practice is recommended to do it before going to sleep. You can also do it other times of the day, when you have the need to relax and calm down.

Remember to keep your eyes closed and focus on your breathing during this period. In the matter of fact, it is important to keep your eyes closed during every yoga practice to create awareness of what is happening to your body. 

The mighty benefits of this victorious breath

1. Ujjayi concentrates breath in the throat region during inhalation and exhalation. It helps to exercise and train the muscles in this region to be flexible and strong. 
2. Deep sleep - This practice signals your body and mind to relax, hence you will have a very deep sleep with this practice.
3. The obvious - the snoring will reduce and eventually disappears.
4. Relaxed body and mind

Wishing you Peace, Love and Harmony

Om