Ujjayi — Open Mouth First: A Complete Guide to Learning Ocean Breath with the Mouth Open

Quick Intro

Ujjayi — Open Mouth First is a Breathwork / Pranayama exercise performed by practicing the Ujjayi Breathing throat constriction with the mouth left open, exhaling an audible “ha” sound the same way fogging a mirror would, before ever closing the mouth and routing the same constricted breath through the nose. It’s the standard way most yoga instructors introduce Ujjayi to complete beginners, since the constriction is far easier to locate and feel with the mouth open than with it closed.

Equipment Needed

Nothing is required to practice Ujjayi — Open Mouth First. A yoga mat is optional, worth having down if the floor being sat on is hard or cold.

Why Ujjayi — Open Mouth First Matters

This is about as gentle as breathing practice gets, since practicing with the mouth open removes the one added step, routing the constricted breath through the nose, that the full technique layers on top. Coordination still comes into it from holding the throat position steady, though noticeably less than in the full nasal version.

When to Do It

As one of the gentlest breathing techniques, this makes an ideal first session for anyone who has never tried Ujjayi before, best practiced seated and unhurried, well away from the pace of a full yoga class.

Getting Ready

A few ordinary breaths through an open mouth beforehand, with no constriction at all, gives a clear baseline for how the throat feels when it’s completely relaxed, making the deliberate narrowing easier to notice once it’s added.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Settle into an upright seated posture, letting the shoulders drop and relax.
2. Open the mouth and exhale a soft, breathy “ha” sound, noticing the slight narrowing at the back of the throat that creates it.
3. Inhale through the open mouth, trying to reproduce a similar soft sound on the way in.
4. Repeat the open-mouth inhale and exhale several times, focusing on making the throat sensation clear and repeatable.
5. Once the sensation feels familiar, close the mouth and route the same constricted breath through the nose instead.

How Many, How Often

Ujjayi — Open Mouth First is dosed by practice time spent finding and confirming the throat sensation, rather than a fixed cycle count.

Feeling the throat sensation clearly with the mouth open matters more here than rushing to close the mouth before that sensation is easy to find.

Modifications and Variations

Ujjayi — Open Mouth First has one close relative, the harder full nasal practice.

Harder: Ujjayi Breathing. Closing the mouth and routing the same constricted breath through the nose only, rather than the mouth, asks for the throat position to hold steady without the easier open-mouth feedback.

Once the open-mouth sensation feels clear and repeatable, closing the mouth and moving the constriction to a nasal breath is the natural next step.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Opening the jaw too wide. A relaxed, moderately open mouth is enough to feel the constriction; opening the jaw dramatically wide tends to change the throat shape in a way that makes the sensation harder to isolate.

Forcing a loud sound. The goal is simply locating the throat narrowing, not making the sound as loud as possible, and pushing for volume can tighten the throat past what’s comfortable.

Closing the mouth before the sensation is reliable. Moving to the nasal version too early, before the open-mouth constriction feels consistent, tends to make the whole technique harder to find later on.

After Your Set

There’s no physical hold to release here. Returning to a few normal, unconstricted breaths afterward is worth doing anyway, and noticing whether the throat still remembers the constriction a minute later is a useful, low-stakes check.

Going Deeper

Once the sensation is clear and repeatable with the mouth open, closing the mouth and routing the same breath through the nose is the natural progression. Progress here tends to stall at that transition, since the nasal version removes the easy audible feedback the open mouth provides. Noticing the constriction hold steady without that open-mouth check is a better marker of progress than how long any single open-mouth session lasts.

How to Know You’re Improving

1. The throat constriction can be found within the first few breaths, without hunting for it.
2. The sound stays soft and steady, never forced or loud.
3. The sensation feels the same on both the inhale and the exhale.
4. Closing the mouth doesn’t cause the constriction to disappear.
5. The full nasal version can be practiced confidently without needing to check with the mouth open first.

Muscles Worked

• Transverse Abdominis (a deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, pushing the audible exhale out steadily through the open mouth)
• Sternocleidomastoid (the long muscle running along the side of the neck, holding the throat in the narrowed shape the sound depends on)
• Scalenes (a group of smaller muscles along the side of the neck, raising the upper ribs on the inhale between sounds)

FAQ

Why start with the mouth open instead of closed? Most beginners find the open-mouth version much easier to locate the constriction in, since the audible “ha” sound gives immediate feedback that the nasal version doesn’t provide as clearly (see Quick Intro above).

Is this a technique in its own right or just a teaching step? It can be practiced on its own, though its main purpose is to teach the throat position before moving on to the full nasal technique.

How long does it typically take to move to the closed-mouth version? There’s no fixed timeline; once the throat sensation feels clear and repeatable, closing the mouth is the natural next step (see Going Deeper above).

Do the same muscles work as in the full nasal version? Mostly. The serratus anterior, the muscle along the side of the ribcage, does less here, since breathing through an open mouth meets less resistance than breathing through the nose.

Can adults who already know the full technique still benefit from this version? Yes, it works well as a quick warm-up check before a full session, confirming the throat sensation is easy to find before committing to the harder nasal version.

Why does an open mouth make the throat constriction easier to feel? An open mouth gives the exhale a wider exit, so the audible “ha” sound created by the throat narrowing comes through more clearly than it does once the mouth closes and the same air has to route entirely through the smaller nasal passage. That clearer, more obvious feedback is why this version works well as a first teaching step.

---

Ujjayi — Open Mouth First is a gentle entry into the oral-and-laryngeal family, the teaching step that isolates the throat sensation before the full Ujjayi Breathing routes it through the nose.