Like many of you, I am horrified by the results of the 2024 election. But I don’t want to discuss my feelings, or muse on why this happened….plenty of people all over the media have done that enough.
At 9AM the day after Election Day, I taught my usual Chair Yoga for Seniors class on Zoom. I generally teach strictly movement with a little focused breathing, avoiding some of the more esoteric yoga practices that I ‘ve learned and practiced myself, since the agency under whose auspices I teach this class presents it as an exercise class. I also thought that this population would not welcome some of these practices, like breathing techniques, imagery, mudra-s, or chanting. But I knew I had to do something different for this class, and probably for many classes going forward.
At the beginning of the class, the attendees all expressed their feelings of outrage, anger, and disappointment, and seemed open to trying some new things. I decided to teach ujjayi breathing, which I had been avoiding for a couple of reasons. First, Viniyoga can be a bit complicated, what with guiding the movement of the breath in and down on inhale, out and up on exhale, coordinating movement with breath, and often moving different body parts in different directions. I thought that adding in ujjayi could make people want to throw up their proverbial hands. Second, older people often have breathing issues so they struggle with breath practices, and lengthening the breath at all can be difficult.
Well, I was wrong! At my next class, a participant told me how wonderful the breathing had been for her. She said it helped make her breath longer, improved her focus, and supported her back and abdomen. Other people chimed in, saying how they felt much more calm.
So, ujjayi to the rescue! This breathing technique involves valving the breath at the glottis. This forces the breath to move more slowly through your body, with some tension at the glottis that creates a rushing sound (often likened to ocean waves, or Darth Vader’s breath). The tension also generates heat, so it’s often called a warming breath. When the breath moves more slowly, it’s easier to slow your movement down to match the breath. When you slow the breath and movement, your body and mind naturally become more calm. This breath also requires some attention, and listening to the sound of the breath actually forces you to pay attention, so it helps to improve your focus and to bring your attention inward, also helping to calm you and decrease feelings of stress.
Here are some tips on how to do the ujjayi breath, Viniyoga style.
Start by sitting, either on the mat or on a chair, with a straight spine – abdomen pulling gently in towards the low back, shoulder blades pulling back and in, chin slightly tucked. Focus on a spot in front of you, or close your eyes. Take a few easy breaths through the nose, inhaling top to bottom, exhaling bottom to top. Try not to force the breath – breathe softly and naturally.
Then on your next exhale, open your mouth with a “hahhhhh” sound, constricting at the back of the throat. Repeat, inhaling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth.
On your next exhale, start with the mouth open, and then, keeping the back of the throat constricted, close your mouth. Do you feel the constriction, and hear the sound of the breath?
Repeat, but this time, keep that constriction going as you inhale and exhale. Now you’re doing ujjayi! I invite you to slowly lengthen your breath and coordinate this breath with your movements in your yoga practice.