Uddiyana Bandha  
  • Beginner's Tip:
    • If you tilt onto the twisting-side buttock (which compresses the lower back), raise it up on a thickly folded blanket. Consciously sink both sitting bones toward the floor.
  • Modifications and props:
    • For an easier variation of this pose, sit sideways on a chair with the chair back to your right. Bring your knees together and your heels directly below your knees. Exhale and twist toward the chair back. Hold onto the sides of the chair back and lift your elbows up and out to the sides, as if you were pulling the chair back apart. Use the arms to help widen the upper back and move the twist into the space between the shoulder blades.
  • Deepen the pose:
    • You can increase the challenge in this pose by slightly varying the position of the arms and hands. First, exhale and swing your right arm around behind your back as you twist to the right. If you can, grip the left arm just at the elbow with the right hand; if you can't, hold a strap looped around the left elbow. Then turn your left arm outward (so the palm faces away from the knees) and slip the hand under the right knee, palm on the floor.
  • Partnering:
    • A partner can help you learn to ground the opposite-side buttock. If you are twisting to the right, have your partner stand to your left side and place his/her left foot on the very top of your left thigh, with the inner edge of the foot in the groin. Apply gentle pressure at first, then increase the pressure as seems appropriate. Exhale into your twist but keep the top left thigh releasing away from your partner's foot.
  • Info
    • bandha = binding, tying a bond, fetter; putting together, uniting, contracting, combining; mundane bondage, attachment to this world (as opposed to emancipation, mukti or moksha). There are a few important points to remember when beginning the practice of Uddiyana Bandha: perform it only on an empty stomach, and only after an exhalation, never before an inhalation. During the time you hold the bandha, also perform Jalandhara Bandha. Most teachers recommend that you learn this bandha in a standing position, and only move to sitting after you've gained some experience. Similarly, wait until you've been sitting for a while before using this bandha during pranayama. T.K.V. Desikachar suggests that Uddiyana can also be learned in a supine reclining position (see the Variation section below).
  • Benefits:
    • Strengthens the abdominal muscles and diaphragm
    • Massages abdominal viscera, the solar plexus, and the heart and lungs .
    • Increases gastric fire; improves digestion, assimilation, and elimination; and purifies the digestive tract of toxins .
    • Stimulates blood circulation in the abdomen and blood flow to the brain .
    • Stimulates and lifts the energy of the lower belly (apana vayu), to unite it with the energies localized in the navel (samana vayu) and heart (prana vayu)
  • Therapeutic Applications:
    • Indigestion.
    • Constipation.
  • Contraindications and Cautions:
    • Stomach or intestinal ulcers .
    • Hernia .
    • High blood pressure.
    • Heart disease
    • Glaucoma.
    • Menstruation
    • Pregnancy
                   
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