What Is Ocean Breath in Yoga?

Ocean Breath (also known as Victorious Breath or Ujjayi Pranayama) is a nasal breath that uses a constriction at the back of your throat to control, slow, and extend your inhales and exhales. The sound is reminiscent of waves crashing up on an ocean shore. You may have already practiced Ocean Breath in an asana practice, like a Vinyasa or Ashtanga class — but it’s worth slowing down and really focusing on technique. If you’re totally new to yogic breathing, it’s also a great place to start.

“This is a breath that energizes the entire body and heats you up,” says yoga instructor Talia Sutra in her Ocean Breath Class on Alo Moves. “It’s a great breath to utilize when you want to generate energy in the body, when you want to generate a sense of focus and concentration, but also heat yourself up.”

Unlike a regular full breath, an Ocean Breath doesn’t travel into the low belly. Instead, it directs energy upward, even on the inhale. The throat constriction allows you to breathe more deeply into your chest.

“The breath is coming in through drawing the navel in and expanding the rib cage instead,” explains Sutra. “As we inhale, the diaphragm lowers down and the ribcage rises up. As we exhale, the diaphragm returns to place, the ribs close, and the belly pulls back and in.”

By keeping the belly in, says Sutra, “Your ribcage opens its doors, the lungs and chest expand wide, and the breath rises all the way up to the collarbones.”

Benefits of Ocean Breath

What Does “Throat Constriction” Mean?

Throat constriction is key for Ocean Breath, but in a fast-paced yoga class there’s not a lot of time to think about it. Talia likes using HA Breath — a kind of giant, open-mouthed exhale — to help her students get the hang of it.

“Take your hand in front of you and pretend like it’s a mirror,” she says. Take a deep breath, and when you exhale, open your mouth and pretend to fog that mirror. Then try it again, but more slowly.

Notice what’s happening in your throat as you fog the pretend mirror and how your breath becomes voiced and a little stronger. That’s the same constriction to use with Ocean Breath, only with your mouth closed.

How to Do Ocean Breath

Find a comfortable, tall seat.
If you’re new to Ocean Breath, gently cover your ears with your hands to better hear your breath.
Exhale to empty your lungs and close your eyes.
Constricting the back of your throat, slowly inhale to a count of six, drawing your navel in toward your ribcage.
Holding your throat in the same position, slowly exhale to a count of six.
Repeat.

Ocean Breath with Retention

After you’re comfortable with Ocean Breath, try holding at full for a few counts. A traditional way to retain breath or energy is Maha Bandha, or Master Lock. It’s the combination of the three other locks in our body.

The base of Maha Bandha is Mula Bandha, or root lock, a slight lift to the pelvic muscles that adds a little stability to your seat. Next is Uddiyana Bandha, or navel lock, which involves drawing your belly up and in toward your spine — much like you already did to push your breath upward. The third is Jalandhara Bandha, or closing your chin to your chest.

To practice Maha Bandha with Ocean Breath, engage all three locks at the top of your inhale, holding for a few counts. Release the locks on your exhale.

Why Is it Called Ocean Breath?

This pranayama exercise got the name Ocean Breath because the sound it generates is similar to hearing the waves come in on the shore. Its traditional Sanskrit name, Ujjayi Pranayama, roughly translates to Upward Victorious Breath, likely because of the way your body expands upward during practice. Most of its other names are sound-related too, like cobra or snake breath, whispering breathing, or snore breathing. You may even catch someone calling it Darth Vader breathing, although that doesn’t exactly match its energetic intentions. Whatever you call it, this breathwork exercise is sure to bring calm and focused energy to your day.

Deepen your Ujjayi Pranayama with Talia Sutra’s Ocean Breath Class, available for free with a 14-day trial to Alo Moves.