A gentle breathing induction that will put you into a very relaxed, altered state.
Ocean Breathing, or Ujjaiya breath control, is a form of breathing that will put you into trance easily and quickly.
This form of breathing is actually a useful way of inducing self-hypnosis. The regular breathing induces relaxation and the focus on your muscles causes dissociation. The repetitive sound of your own breath going out sets up a rhythm that lulls the conscious mind until it starts to wander away. Then your unconscious mind is free to open up, which is the definition of trance.
You can do this easy self-hypnosis breathing technique anywhere, anytime and it really works to put you into an altered state to use before your meditations or other explorations.
It will take a bit of practice to get the muscle control right but everyone can do it. Do not overdo the breathing in and stop if you get lightheaded. Aim for a gentle controlled relaxing rhythm. Ocean breathing can be sustained for long periods of time.
- Sit or lie somewhere comfortable.
- Focus on your breathing. Get used to the rhythm of your normal breathing.
- Then take control and deliberately alter the way you breathe.
- Start by expanding your abdomen. Find the muscles to raise your abdomen. Do it gently.
- Then use your diaphragm muscles to raise the lower edge of your ribs,
- Finish by raising your upper chest and ribs. Steps 4 – 6 should form a gentle continuous flow.
- As you breathe out use your glottis to narrow your throat and restrict the flow of air. This causes a ‘rushing’ sound, which gives the technique the name ‘ocean breathing’. The out breath should take as long as the in breath.
Using this method allows me to go very deep, very quickly into an altered state. I really like to practice Ocean Breathing when I can’t sleep. If I’m having insomnia my mind becomes overactive and I lay in bed stressing out from too much thinking. I can instead, set an intention for what I want to do (sleep, lucid dream, astral travel) then start the breathing and kind of glide away from consciousness.
“I need the sea because it teaches me” ~ Pablo Neruda
