Uddiyana Bandha – Steps – Benefits – Precaution

Uddiyana Bandha – Lifting the Diaphragm

Moving up from mula bandha we have the second bandha, Uddiyana. In Sanskrit uddiyana means to fly up, or to rise up. This ‘flying up lock’ is thus all about your insides flying upwards, intangibly meaning your energy, tangibly meaning your diaphragm, stomach, and abdominal organs.

Steps

1. Practice with your torso upright.
2. Inhale deeply.
3. Completely exhale and While exhaling, try to shift the muscles of the stomach towards inner side.
4. Lift up the ribs a little bit and push the muscles from within with a gentle push towards the upward direction.
5. This results in muscles of diaphragm being pushed upwards. This is the final stage of Uddiyan Bandh.
6. Try to remain firmly in this pose. This pose is to be retained when the breath is fully exhaled.

1. When there is an urgent need to inhale, the bandh must be released gradually as under.   

Note: The muscles of the stomach must be relaxed at this time, so that they can be pushed up.

Benefits:

• It opens up blockages in the manipura chakra, as it massages the solar plexus, as well as the heart and lungs
• Stimulates intestinal activity and helps relieve constipation.
• This bandha moves the energy up the central channel from the earth, water, and fire centers into the heart chakra which element is air.
• Stimulates the pancreas and is helpful for diabetes.
• It tones the abdomen, strengthens the diaphragm, and increases the gastric fire. As a result, it improves the powers of digestion, assimilation and elimination, and purifies the digestive tract of toxins.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Balances the mind, soothes irritability and anger and dispels a depressive mood.
• This bandh is useful for awakening of Kundalini Shakti while making spiritual progress, hence it may have been termed as Uddiyan Bandh.

Precaution

• Do not practice this Bandha with high blood pressure
• Women who are menstruating or pregnant should not practice uddiyana bandha
• Persons suffering from stomach ailments, heart troubles or defective blood circulation should not attempt to perform the bandh. Persons suffering from diseases like hernia too should not perform this bandh.
• people suffering from the following conditions: stomach or intestinal ulcers, hernia, high blood pressure, heart disease, and glaucoma..