Stop Calling It Ocean Breath — The Truth About Ujjayi Pranayama with Andrew McGonigle

Let's Talk Yoga

Arundhati Baitmangalkar

Business, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 568 Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I’m joined by Andrew McGonigle for a deep dive into Ujjayi Pranayama, the breath technique often called “ocean breath.” We explore the anatomy, nervous system effects, breath retention, and why Ujjayi is far more nuanced than most modern yoga classes make it seem. Episode Highlights: Ujjayi breath foundationsUjjayi body mechanicsInhalation versus exhalation useUjjayi in vinyasa yogaBreath literacy beyond techniqueBreath as tool, not goalNatural breath versus UjjayiUjjayi and nervous system r...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, welcome to episode 22 of the Let's Talk Yoga podcast.
0:05.0	On the show today, we're diving into one of your favorite topics and in fact, it's one of the most commonly used techniques in modern yoga.
0:13.7	I'm talking about ujjjay.
0:15.9	Now, whether you are a modern day yoga student, practitioner, Vinyasa teacher, you may either love your
0:22.0	udjjay or you may be confused by it. In this conversation with Andrew McGonigal, we add layers
0:29.3	of context, history and how to actually use this beautiful breath practice. So listen on for more
0:37.1	details and context. Now before I introduce
0:40.0	Andrew once again on this show, I want to give you a heads up that June 19th, my annual
0:46.0	Pranaama teacher training and study program begins. This is the sixth year that we are offering it.
0:52.0	And this time, it's been fully revamped.
0:54.7	We've got 60 hours of prana yama and breath literacy study work coming up.
0:59.8	And if you are a yoga nerd, you are a yoga teacher, and you are interested in broadening
1:05.5	your horizons when it comes to breath literacy and understanding pranayama in a structured,
1:11.1	authentic and relatable way.
1:12.9	And to take that from theory into practice, into your asana classes and teaching,
1:18.0	then check out all the details.
1:19.8	Now, I have listed everything in the show notes, podcast description, and it even comes out
1:25.3	in our newsletters.
1:26.7	So that's my little housekeeping before we get into today's show.
1:31.8	Now, Andrew McGonigil is no stranger to the Let's Talk Yoga podcast.
1:36.0	In fact, Andrew is one of my favorite anatomy people to reach out to when it comes to these
1:41.5	conversations.
	...

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