Practicing conscious breathing has been of great support in my life in a holistic way. Knowing and having a command of my breathing has been a pleasant process that I recommend 1000%. Joining my great passion with this practice hit the target; so here I am introducing Ujjay Pranayama in Dance.

Since we can perform voluntary movements while breathing together with the involuntary natural movements, the yogis delved into and developed a voluntary breathing system. During the practice, they learned that this process had a direct effect on other psychological and physical processes linked to breathing.

Etymology  

Pranayama: prana means breathing or energy, while ayama means adjustment, control or knowledge.  

We can therefore conclude that pranayama is the science or the art that teaches breathing and energy controlling techniques. 

Ujjay: the prefix ud means rising, expanding in Sanskrit, and jaya means victory. That is why it is also called victory breath. 

It also carries the name of ocean breath due to the sound that is produced while performed. Actually, one of its main characteristics is its resounding. It is about closing the glottis partially when inhaling and exhaling, which causes slower entrance and exit of the air, producing an even sound, a very deep and long breath and immediate comfort.

Let’s try together some practice:

1 – sit in a confortable position; the spine has to be long and straight.

2 – start by closing your eyes and feel your your breath is today (breath through your nose please)

3 – slowly by slowly, let’s thy to modify your breath by elongating it, just a little

4 – Now, on each exhale open your mouth, and try to exhale as if you wanted to fog up a glass.

5 – After several exhales, just close your mouth and keep going with this same sensation.

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH YOUR BREATH SOUND!!

6 – Now, try to catch out this same sound to your inhale, by keeping your throat a bit engaged.

welcome to this amazing Prayanama and its wonderful effects!

Ujjay pranayama in dance  

From my point of view, Ujjay breathing boosts stress reducing during the dance practice, both on stage or while rehearsing. It improves the inhaling and exhaling capacity, and therefore improves vital capacity and expands the chest.

Before I go on stage, I ALWAYS PERFORM UJJAY BBREATHING in order to connect with my inner being, to feel rooted and to decrease the stress. 

Try this:

• Find an intimate place where you can be quiet for a few moments and close your eyes. Connect your “inner gaze”
• Feel both of your feet rooted to the ground, with the weight evenly distributed throughout the foot. You can try shifting your body weight slightly until you find today’s center.
• Now loosen your knees and do a few little bounces as you begin to pay attention to your breath.
• Slowly stop bouncing and bring your hands closer to your chest to do three full cycles of UJJAY breathing (one full cycle = I inhale and exhale x3)
• Feel how your body and mind remain after Ujjay pranayama’s practice for a few moments before opening your eyes and holding that energy up to the stage.
• Enjoy your art my dear friend!

If you want to practice this highly effective technique, practice yoga, strengthen your pelvic floor or relax your body and mind, there is a training cycle on my online classroom, CONSCIOUS BREATHING.