| Maybe you've been wondering what kind of results | | | | for all the other breathing techniques we used. This is |
| you can expect from practicing a yoga breathing | | | | the start of acquiring a relaxed longer breath, like the |
| technique. | | | | students in the study and it's called an Ujayi breath. |
| Well, I sure did and I ended up doing an informal study | | | | The Technique |
| of my yoga students to find out if indeed, measurable | | | | Ujayi Breath: |
| results were possible. I'll explain the design of my study, | | | | - Seated comfortably |
| some of the results, the benefits, and then you can try | | | | - Inhale through the nose to the back of your throat |
| out the first technique we practiced. | | | | - Stay with your inhale as long as comfortable |
| The Design | | | | - Feel and listen to the sound of your breath as it |
| In our study, we collected data from two college PE | | | | passes the throat |
| (Functional Yoga Training) classes; 63 students taking | | | | - Exhale from the back of your throat back out |
| class with me twice a week for a full semester | | | | through the nose |
| (roughly 16 weeks). | | | | - Feel and listen to the sound of your breath as it |
| This twice a week practice was critical to achieving a | | | | passes the throat |
| measurable result! | | | | - Try to match the length of your exhale with the |
| We measured over 11 significant parameters involving | | | | length of your inhale |
| strength, flexibility, lung capacity, sleep levels and the | | | | - Repeat for five breaths |
| ability to relax; performing assessments at the | | | | This type of breathing conserves energy and calms |
| beginning, middle and end of the semester. | | | | the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve |
| The first measurement we took was the 'length of a | | | | while breathing. You might wonder why that's |
| breath'. And I'm going to share the framework of this | | | | important, I'll explain: |
| parameter with you. | | | | The vagus nerve is the tenth of twelve paired cranial |
| To extend breathing capacity we worked with three | | | | nerves. It is a remarkable nerve that supplies nerve |
| very specific Functional Yoga Training breathing | | | | fibers to the pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), |
| techniques, known in yoga as 'pranayama'. Part of this | | | | trachea (windpipe), lungs, heart, esophagus, and the |
| practice also included using these specialized breathing | | | | intestinal tract as far as the transverse portion of the |
| techniques while working in twisting poses, to increase | | | | colon. |
| respiratory capacity. | | | | The vagus nerve also brings sensory information back |
| Here are some of the results: | | | | to the brain from the ear, tongue, pharynx, and larynx. |
| - At the beginning of the semester Group I (34 | | | | Information travels through this nerve to and from your |
| students) started out with a class average of 22.6 | | | | central nervous system. |
| seconds - from the beginning of the inhale to the end | | | | Since 1997 there's been a form of therapy available |
| of the exhale - that's roughly an 11 second inhale and | | | | for severe clinical depression, when standard drug |
| an 11 second exhale. | | | | therapy fails, known as Vagal Nerve Stimulation. A |
| - Some of the students in the group had a total breath | | | | pacemaker type of device known as a pulse |
| length of only nine seconds from inhale to exhale. | | | | generator is surgically implanted into the chest wall with |
| That's roughly a four second inhale and a five second | | | | a wire attached to the left vagus nerve in order to |
| exhale, not unusual for a person who's never been | | | | send electrical signals along the vagus nerve to the |
| introduced to breathing techniques. | | | | mood centers in the brain. With this therapy the hope is |
| - Take a moment right now, to measure your breath | | | | that these signals will improve the symptoms of |
| from the beginning of the inhale to the end of the | | | | depression. |
| exhale, and find out the length of your breath. Grab a | | | | Did you know you can stimulate your own Vagus |
| stopwatch or use a count of 1 - 1000, 2 - 1000, 3 - | | | | nerve with Ujayi breathing by having a focus on the |
| 1000... Make of note of this for later. | | | | sound of your breath as it passes the throat?! |
| - By the end of the semester, practicing the Functional | | | | Try the technique again. It's listed above, and focus |
| Yoga Training breathing techniques we learned in | | | | once again on the sound of your breath, and the |
| class; the length of a breath (class average) was 32.2 | | | | feeling it creates within your body. |
| seconds! That's a 43% increase! | | | | How do you feel now compared to before practicing |
| - Combining the results from both groups, a startling | | | | the Ujayi breath? |
| 40% (25 out of 63) of these students achieved | | | | With a calmer nervous system, your body can take in |
| greater than a 50% increase in the length of a breath! | | | | additional oxygen and metabolize it more efficiently, |
| These 25 students had an impressive breath length at | | | | leading to all kinds of positive benefits, including those |
| the end of the semester that ranged from 22 - 60 | | | | signals back to the brain affecting your mood centers. |
| seconds! | | | | With this breath you can literally calm your own |
| These results are entirely possible for you, if you're | | | | nervous system. Aside from learning how to lengthen |
| willing to practice at least twice a week. And, if you | | | | your breath, a calmer nervous system will allow you to |
| practice even more frequently, your results can | | | | feel more relaxed, and we all want that! |
| surpass what we observed in the study. | | | | Save the breath measurement you took at the |
| So by now I'm sure you're ready to learn one of these | | | | beginning of this article, you'll need it for reference as |
| techniques. This first one we'll cover is a building block | | | | you continue your practice. |