Saturday, April 18, 2009

Yoga Breathing Techniques - 5 Ujjayi Pranayama Steps For Curing Insomnia

By Outarow Chuong

If there's one medical condition which can seemingly strike anyone at anytime, that is none other than insomnia. This common sleep disorder can have psychological, physiological, environmental and medical reasons. Now, if you are one of the millions of people who are suffering from this condition, did you know that there is a type of yoga which can help cure it?

The key is to learn about the breathing techniques involved in the Ujjayi Pranayama - a style of yoga which is also called ocean breath, hissing breath and victorious breath. Ujjayi literally means rising victoriously. When you practice this style, you can use the techniques to cure any sleeping disorders that you may have.

5 Steps to Develop a Breathing Technique



To help you out, here are the five steps that you need to follow if you want to develop a technique based from Ujjayi Pranayama yoga - which should help cure you of insomnia:


  • Begin the yogic breathing technique by taking five long, deep and slow breaths. This should help in the relaxation phase.

  • If you are using the Ujjayi Pranayama steps to specifically cure insomnia, close your eyes during the exercise.

  • Next, try to constrict your throat muscles. At this point, it would help if you will visualize that you are breathing through a hold in your throat. This type of yogic exercise is also known as 'ocean breath' because of the sound that will be made by the air passing through your throat. The point of this step in the exercise is to breathe through your throat instead of through your nose.

  • Find a nice, slow and relaxing rhythm as you continue with this style. Imagine that you are in a peaceful, calm beach with only the sound of the surf as your companion.

  • Continue with this exercise until you relax completely and fall asleep eventually.

As you can see, the steps involved in this breathing exercise are quite easy. The good thing about using the Ujjayi Pranayama techniques is that it will produce health benefits like lowering your blood pressure and ultimately relaxing you once you go to bed and try to sleep. As your body regains its equilibrium, your mind will also calm down and you can emerge successful in the fight against the sleeping disorder which is insomnia.