Welcome.
Today we're going to go through a very brief breathing exercise that comes from yoga.
People who practice yoga know it as ujjayi breathing or ocean breathing.
And we're going to go through a couple of variations to ease into it.
This is good for someone who perhaps has not tried this breathing technique before.
And the purpose of ocean breathing is to control the breath in a way that oxygenates the body so that we're healthier.
It helps us to relax and overcome stress and anxiety.
And it is linked to greater health and immune function.
So I invite you to sit comfortably,
Resting your hands in your lap.
And for ocean breathing,
One way I like to think of it is,
Imagine as if you're sipping water through a straw.
You're kind of controlling how you're drawing the water in.
In this case,
We're drawing in air,
But we're controlling the back of the throat so that it is a slight constriction because you're drawing air through the nose to the back of the throat and down deep into the belly.
I use Darth Vader as an example where you hear the in the back of his throat when he talks.
Or if you can imagine someone snoring,
That air coming to the back of the throat.
That's our target of where the air is flowing to,
But we want to keep it moving.
We don't have stagnant air going in and out.
So one way to develop a practice of ocean breathing is to first inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
So we're going to do that just a couple of times to set up.
So closing your eyes and with your mouth closed,
Keeping the jaw relaxed,
I'd like you to bring the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth.
Now as you inhale,
Imagine you're drawing the air slightly constricted to the back of the throat.
Open your mouth and sigh it out.
I'm going to make those motions a little louder so that you can hear by example.
So again,
Inhale through the nose,
Drawing it to the back of the throat.
Open your mouth,
Drop the jaw and one more time,
Closing your mouth,
Inhale through the nose,
Drop the jaw and tongue and now close your mouth.
Relax your breath,
Breathing in and out through your nose.
If you need to,
You can stop this recording and try that a couple more times on your own until you really feel the flow in the back of the throat down into the belly,
About two inches below your navel.
You might have already started to hear the sound of the ocean or your breath in your head as you did this.
So this time we're going to do the same thing,
But we're inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose.
If it is helpful,
Imagine an ocean wave and the wave is going to crest at the top of the breath and then pause and exhale to the bottom of the breath where you'll contract your belly,
Pause and then inhale again.
So let's begin together.
Bringing the tip of your tongue behind your upper teeth,
Mouth closed and jaw is relaxed.
Slowly inhale through the nose,
Pause at the top of the wave and exhale,
Inhale and exhale.
Keep going on your own for about a minute.
If you feel lightheaded in any way,
Stop and allow your breathing to return to normal and relax your breath.
Gently breathing in and out through the nose,
Not trying to control your breath in any way and you can open your eyes whenever you're ready.
Thank you for joining me.
