Ujjai pranayama is a very effective breathing exercise for calming the mind and balancing the central nervous system; it is also recommended in ayurvedic preventive medicine protocols, especially for sleep disorders such as vertigo and sleep apnoea. I have detailed below all the benefits of this breathing exercise as stated by Dr. Vasant Lad, if practised regularly.
This breathing technique, often referred to as "ocean breath" due to the sound it produces, is a pranayama or breathing technique commonly used in yoga and meditation practices. 
This controlled breathing technique involves a narrowing of the throat passage, which creates a distinct and gentle hissing or whispering sound as you breathe in and out. 
The word "Ujjai" is derived from Sanskrit and means "victorious" or "expanding." The practice of Ujjai breath is designed to help you achieve a sense of victory and expansion, both physically and mentally.In this article, I will tell you about the Ujjai breathing technique.

General rules before application;

• You can practice straight, either sitting on the floor, or in the chair.
• For children over 7 years of age.
• Practice, minimum of 7 breaths, and maximum of 17 breaths.
• Practice only once a day.

Contraindications (It should not be applied if these symptoms are present)

•    Chest pain
•    High blood pressure (>160>100: People who use high blood pressure medicine can practice)
•    Epileptic seizure (If you had it within the past 6 months)

Benefits;

•    Balances the Central Nervous System.
•    Calms    the mind, widens the    consciousness, increases mindfulness.
•    Eliminates the buzzing sound in the mind.
•    Heals the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
•    Liberates from the emotions of anxiety, loneliness, depression, fear, and insecurity; it purifies from these emotions.
•    It increases the happiness hormone of serotonin, and melatonin, which regulates the immune system, and rejuvenates the cells.
•    It is an antidote for sleep disorder, and vertigo.
•    Eliminates the attention deficiency syndrome, and heals the hyperactive syndrome.
•    It vibrates thyroid glands, vocal cords, and any other organs related to throat.
•    Since it stimulates the thyroid glands, it is good for goiter.
•    The energy will spread throughout the entire face, and it unclogs the sinuses (it can be practiced when you have the flu, or a cold.)
•    It cleans the lachrymal, and the channels.
•    It works even the smallest muscles in the respiratory system.
•    Ends the indolence, makes you feel lively again. It discharges the staled energy out of the body.
 •    It vibrates the tongue, the nerves that are related to vision, and the entire brain cortex.
•    It heals any of the tumor, and turns degenerated cells that are about to become cancer cells into healthy cells.
•    The vibration starts at the nerves of the eyes and the area of the cerebral cortex, and goes through thalamus, hypothalamus, epifiz, amygdala, and limbic cortex.
•    Oxygen will go to the areas of the cerebral and cortical in the brain, and it stimulates these areas as to decreases the lazy, and idle areas. It exercises the cerebral area, stimulates amygdala, which is the area responsible mainly for the emotion of the fear, and comforts it. Movement and communication starts in the neurons.
•    Brings the life energy to the limbic brain; the brain relaxes. Since the limbic brain is connected to the subconsciousness, it also comforts the subconsciousness.

How to Practice?

•    On the floor, in the chair, office, bus, car; it doesn’t matter where you are. Sit comfortably, erect at 90 degrees.
•    Pay attention the level of your knees. If the knees are lower than the hips, put something under your feet to raise them to the same level as your hips. I use the blue yoga blocks for this purpose.
•    Gently close your eyes and mouth, and put the top of the tongue to the fire point. In order to create the necessary vibrations to reach our objective, having the tip of the tongue on the fire point is a must in this exercise. Otherwise we won’t be able to reach our objective. 
•    In this exercise, the “HUMMM” sound that we made in the previous exercise of Unity of Consciousness, we are going to make it in the reverse; when we are inhaling.
•    While you are inhaling through your nose, at the same time, create “HUMMM” sound from your closed mouth. When you are doing this, think about creating an ocean sound in the back of your throat.
•    And at the same time, while you are inhaling and making the sound, raise your right hand with the same rhythm as your voice. When you are finished with your inhalation, your right hand should be above your head.
•    When you are at the full capacity of your inhalation, close your right nostril with your right thumb, and strongly exhale through your left nostril as long as possible.
•    When your lungs are empty, just like at the beginning, inhale through your nose with the sound of “HUMMM”, and exhale the same way.
•    Inhale and exhale 7 times like this.
•    If you decide to practice this breath technique every day, during the first week, practice 7 breaths per day.
•    Increase it by 1 breath in the second week. In other words, during the second week, you can practice 8 breaths per day.
•    In the third week, you can increase it by 1 breath, and 9 breaths per day during this week.
•    Practice like this, by increasing 1 breath per week, up to 17 breaths per day.
•    When you start with 7 breaths per day in the first week, and if you increase it by 1 breath every week, after 11 weeks, you should be practicing 17 breaths per day.
•    You can only practice up to 17 breaths per day. You may not increase the count of breaths for the rest of your life. Because, according to the Vedic Knowledge, our energy body is made of 17 main vibrations, and these 17 breaths balance all of the main vibrations. Don’t be impatient, and don’t do 17 breaths in the first week. It is important that the vibrations have to get the physical body ready step bu step.

You can click here to watch the video, where I explain how to do properly Ujjai Pranayama breathing technique especially for ayurvedic preventive medical use.

Be Well, Be Happy!

Ebru Şinik – Wellbeing Coach & Ayurveda Teacher