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Ujjayi

The standard exhalation technique used in spinal breathing pranayama. On every exhalation, the epiglottis — the throat flap above the windpipe that closes automatically when you hold your breath or swallow — is partially closed, creating a small, voluntary restriction. The result is a fine hissing sound in the throat, gentle back-pressure in the lungs, and increased stimulation of prana circulation in the nervous system.

Lesson 41: "By partially closing [the epiglottis] as you exhale, a fine hissing sound will occur in your throat. Be easy about it. Don't strain."

On inhalation the throat is released and opened as wide as comfortably possible — no restriction on the way in.

Anatomy

Feature Detail
Location Epiglottis — the throat flap above the windpipe (trachea), in the upper throat
Sound High hissing, barely audible; practically inaudible from another room
Timing Exhalation only. Inhalation is wide open.
Pressure Creates gentle back-pressure in the lungs; does not restrict the nasal passages

The epiglottis sits above the larynx (voice box). This distinguishes ujjayi from brahmari, which uses the vocal cords inside the larynx and produces a deeper, audible bee-hum rather than a hiss.

Purpose

Two overlapping mechanisms make ujjayi effective:

  1. Breath restraint — partially closing the epiglottis slows the exhalation, which increases the overall restraint of breath. Restraint of breath is the mechanism that draws prana upward from the pelvic storehouse to compensate for reduced oxygen intake. Ujjayi adds a second layer of restraint beyond the slow-deep baseline of spinal breathing.

  2. Pressure and vibration — the small back-pressure and the vibration of the restriction stimulate prana circulation in the upper body, throat, and head, beginning the awakening of the higher neurobiology.

Lesson 229: "By partially closing [the epiglottis] as we exhale, there is some pressure in the lungs, and some vibration in the throat in the form of a high hissing sound. These two effects stimulate the circulation of prana in the nervous system, and the awakening of the higher neuro-biology in the upper body and head."

When to add it

Ujjayi is added to spinal breathing pranayama after the basic routine is stable — approximately one week to several weeks after beginning SBP. Specifically:

  1. Begin SBP without ujjayi.
  2. Once the 10-minute twice-daily SBP routine feels steady and the breath pattern is habitual, add ujjayi on exhalations.

The slow-deep inhalation and exhalation form must already be stable before adding ujjayi, or the restriction compounds the clunky stage unnecessarily.

Relationship to breath length

AYP does not specify equal inhale and exhale durations, nor does it use a count method. Because ujjayi restricts the exhalation slightly, exhalation may naturally be a bit longer than inhalation — but this is not required. Just do it easily and naturally.

Lesson 41: "In spinal breathing pranayama, there is no requirement for inhalation and exhalation to be of equal length in time. We do not use the count method for timing pranayama in AYP."

Ujjayi is NOT used with spinal bastrika

Spinal bastrika pranayama is rapid panting — entirely different from slow SBP. AYP explicitly does not combine ujjayi with bastrika:

Lesson 171 (Addition 171.3): "Combining Spinal Bastrika and ujjayi may be part of some other teaching, but not AYP. Adding the extra restriction/pressure of ujjayi to rapid spinal bastrika… does not sound like an overload reducer. Just the opposite."

Ujjayi serves slow SBP; in fast bastrika it would add unnecessary restriction without benefit.

Ujjayi is NOT used on inhalation

Some practitioners ask whether ujjayi should be applied on inhalation as well. AYP is clear: only on exhalation.

Lesson 91 (Addition 91.1): "For the same reason we do not restrict inhalation during ujjayi or brahmari pranayamas in spinal breathing."

The lungs are designed to fill comfortably — restricting inhalation is not natural and can over time harm the lungs or the practice.

Relationship to brahmari

Brahmari is the evolved alternative to ujjayi, introduced once ecstatic conductivity is rising:

Ujjayi Brahmari
Anatomy Epiglottis (throat flap, above larynx) Vocal cords inside the larynx
Sound High hiss, barely audible Audible bee-hum, heard rooms away
Resonance Upper throat/chest Medulla oblongata (brain stem)
Effect Pressure + mild vibration; prana circulation Stronger stimulation of OM vibration at medulla; "OM stimulator"
Difficulty Easy; independent of breath rate Harder; pitch must balance with exhalation rate
Social Discreet; usable anywhere Not discreet

Both are used only on exhalation, with wide-open inhalation. AYP recommends using whichever suits the moment — ujjayi for quiet contexts; brahmari for depth when privacy permits. Neither is mandatory; ujjayi is the simpler starting point.

Lesson 229: "Just be sure to be doing one or the other during spinal breathing, so there will be some pressure and vibration on exhalation."

Ujjayi in the overall practice summary

Lesson 204 lists ujjayi explicitly among the enhancements to SBP in its summary of all AYP principles and practices:

"Enhancements to spinal breathing using throat opening on inhalation, restricted epiglottis (ujjayi) during exhalation, and tracing ascending cool currents and descending warm currents in the spinal nerve during inhalation and exhalation. These enhancements increase stimulation of the life force in the spinal nerve."

Ujjayi is treated as an integrated part of the SBP procedure — not an add-on or optional enhancement — once the basics are stable.

Self-pacing

Ujjayi is mild enough that it rarely causes standalone overload issues. However, in the context of a full energy practice stack (siddhasana + mulabandha + sambhavi + kechari + yoni mudra + ujjayi), excess stimulation is cumulative. If the overall routine is producing sleep disruption or energy imbalances, ujjayi is one of the components that can be temporarily reduced or paused, alongside other energy practices.

Lesson 250 (Addition 250.5): When overdoing causes sleep deprivation, self-pacing includes "stopping the ujjayi" along with other mudras and bandhas — scaling back to minimal pranayama and DM until stability is restored.

See self-pacing.

How it relates to other practices

  • Core component of spinal breathing pranayama — added once the basic SBP habit is stable; from then on, part of every SBP session.
  • Not used with spinal bastrika — different modality, incompatible addition.
  • Replaced by brahmari when ecstatic conductivity rises — brahmari is the more powerful form, resonating at the medulla; ujjayi remains the quiet-context alternative.
  • Preserved through yoni mudra kumbhaka transitions — during the breath retention itself, the epiglottis is open (the pressure comes from the closed nostrils and mouth), so ujjayi is released during the hold and resumed on the exhalation phase.

Source lessons