Quote:The Ujjayi is the "sound of victory," right?
What would you say is the "goal" of the Ujjayi Sound and Ujjayi breathing? Are the altered states dependent on what the student needs to be shown (metaphysically speaking)?
Hi, Vestige.. ( did you watch, and do the practice? just so I know.
Ujjayi is commonly referred to as "the victory breath", yes. It is referred to as such due to its capacities, the rate at which it slows the breath to, the [ transcendental ] sound - to awaken the self to self and maintain this without break or pause. One sees as they begin breathing in this way. It is the default for how one should naturally breathe. And is in fact the natural breath for me, for decades now. Certainly the breath I come back to any time I notice it missing. It is a quick way to deeply focus the attention.
The Ujjayi breath, although having no goal itself is with its own basic set of characteristics and associated inherent capabilities. Narrowing the passageway through the throat slows the breath rate down. This puts you back into your parasympathetic nervous system, the body's "rest" mode. Just pause to think of how you feel anytime you slow down enough to take a few deep breaths. This is the mode we are meant to live our lives in, not in sympathetic-mode, which is the body's "fight-flight" system.
Stress is the result of living from the sympathetic, rather than parasympathetic nervous system. Ujjayi, due to partially closing the glottis, ie: narrowing of the passageway through the throat, slows the breath rate, activates the parasympathetic, and healing is something that naturally enacts as a result of this. <--this is a long discussion, deserving of its own topic, so I will simply say this for now and put the period here. I will say briefly that one thing 'healed' is our point of focus.
Sound, - the sound of the breath, much like the sound of the wind itself has additional capabilities. The sound puts us back in touch with the fact that we are breathing. What affect would you think this might have? Would the experience of yourself be the same? The same as when you are not aware for long durations? I will just insert here that when we are not in fight-flight we are at the same time not in fear. <--Many of us do not even know what this is.
The breath is short. Confined to a second or two or three or four.
It is the very mirror of fear/fight-flight.