Ujjayi breathing

Sometimes translated as victorious breath, ujjayi is produced by a very slight constriction at the back of the throat, mouth closed, breathing through the nose. The sound is often compared to a distant wave or a quiet whisper; if it sounds like snoring, you are overdoing it. Inhale and exhale are kept roughly equal in length and audible to you, not to the room.

What it is for is pacing and feedback. Narrowing the airway slows the breath without you having to count it, which keeps a flowing class honest. More importantly, it is the best effort gauge a practitioner has: as long as the sound stays smooth, you are working inside your capacity, and the moment it goes ragged or you need the mouth, you are past it. That makes it particularly valuable in hot and humid conditions, where the heart rate rises quietly.

In a KEO session this is taught in the first class, not held back as an advanced technique, because it is the single most useful tool a beginner can own. In Bangkok's weather Ben uses it as the rule for the whole room: when ujjayi breaks down, the group slows or takes a knee, whatever the sequence was meant to do next.