Welcome to today's practice.
We're going to learn the technique you can use during a day,
Not just at night.
So find a comfortable seated position.
This practice works best sitting upright,
Feet flat on the floor and your spine tall but relaxed.
Rest your hands on your thighs or on your lap and gently close the eyes.
And take a moment to notice how you feel right now.
Whatever's here is fine.
You don't need to change it,
Just notice.
And let's begin with a few natural breaths.
No technique,
Just easy breathing.
Notice the air moving in and out.
And notice where you feel the breath most.
Maybe it's in the nostrils,
The belly,
Maybe the chest.
Now let's start to gently deepen the breath.
Inhale a little further through your nose and exhale a little longer through your nose.
Good.
I'm going to teach you the Ujjayi breath.
So keep breathing through your nose,
But we're going to add a slight constriction to the back of your throat.
Imagine that you're fogging up a mirror,
That sort of ah sound,
But with your mouth closed.
Or imagine you're whispering ha on both inhale and exhale,
But through your nose.
And this creates a soft ocean-like sound.
So let's try.
Inhale through your nose with a slight constriction in your throat.
And exhale through your nose with some gentle constriction.
And you should hear a soft whispering sound,
Like waves.
If you can't hear it,
Try constricting your throat a little more,
But don't force it.
It should be gentle.
You shouldn't feel any irritation in the back of the throat.
And if you need to,
You can start with your mouth open to get the sound right,
And then gently close the mouth and start doing it through the nose.
And let's practice a few breaths together.
So inhaling in,
Exhaling out.
Inhale,
Soft ocean sound.
And exhale,
Soft ocean sound.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Inhaling with that whisper.
And exhaling with that whisper.
And keep going on your own.
A steady rhythm and a smooth sound.
And let the sound anchor your attention.
And when the mind wanders,
Come back to the sound of your breath.
And notice how the slight constriction naturally slows you down.
You can't rush this breath.
A few more breaths.
In.
Good.
You now have Ujjayi breath.
This is your daytime reset.
Use it whenever you feel stress building.
And let's combine this with coherent breathing.
We'll move from Ujjayi into coherent breathing,
Then extended exhale.
This sequence is what you might use during the day if you have a few full minutes to fully reset.
So let your throat relax,
Release the Ujjayi constriction,
And let's move into coherent breathing.
So five in,
And five out.
In through the nose,
And out through the nose.
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And continue at this pace,
Smooth and steady.
Equal inhale,
Equal exhale.
One more breath here.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Now let's extend the exhale.
So inhale for four,
And exhale for six or eight.
So in for two,
Three,
Four,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And extending to an eight count.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And continue on your own.
Short inhale,
Long exhale.
And each exhale releasing accumulated tension from the day.
Letting each exhale releasing more and more.
And a final breath in this pattern.
So in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And let go with your breath and return to your natural rhythm.
No technique,
No counting.
Just natural,
Easy breathing.
And notice how you feel now compared to when you started.
Scan through the body.
Noticing if there's any areas of relaxation.
And this is what's possible when you interrupt the stress pattern during a day.
A calmer baseline.
So remember,
Ujjayi is a quick reset.
Five breaths,
Anytime,
Anywhere.
And when you have a few minutes,
You can stack it with coherent breathing and extended exhales for a deeper reset.
And take this into your day.
