Louis's love of yoga emerged in the 1990s after receiving a copy of B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga. After pledging to learn all 202 poses by himself, he injured his back and sought tutelage at Julie Lawrence’s Iyengar Studio in Portland, Oregon, where he learned to cool his fire and practice with impeccable alignment. In the Bay Area, he began studying with Master Iyengar Instructor Ben Thomas, who mentored him during his teacher training at Avalon Art and Yoga and taught him how to breathe. Under the guidance of both Jill Miller’s Yoga Tune Up and Master Teacher and Sanskrit scholar Anirudh Shastri, Louis weds the most recent research from physical therapy, physiology, and neuroscience with the rich tradition of Hatha Yoga practiced in North India.
This is a fantastic demonstration. So helpful. Diaphram vacuum can be so esoteric, but this video makes it much easier to grasp.
Great explanation of a key exercise!
Awesome demonstration of Uddiyana. I love this exercise in the morning to really wake up my core and tap into deeper breath first thing in my day.
When I first learned uddiyana bandha I’m not sure I got it. There was considerably more yogic mysticism that accompanied the instruction and, for me, that clouded my understanding. I appreciate the more direct explanation.
This version of Uddiyana Baddha is different from the version I learned in Forrest Yoga. I am looking forward to experimenting and comparing them to see if I like either one better and if the benefits feel any different. In Forrest Yoga, we are taught to draw the belly back toward the spine and spread the ribs. In Jill’s version she explains that there is no pulling. Instead, there is a contraction in the external intercostals, which pulls the ribs apart. Then the diaphragm and the innermost intercostals passively lengthen, and all the abdominal muscles that are tied to the diaghragm get dragged up by the exhalation force. It seems that the move in Forrest is initiated by the abdominals, whereas the move in Yoga Tune Up is initiated by the muscles in between the ribs. Interesting!
I love this video! Jill does such a great job explaining uddiyana…This one has been a challenge for me for some time so I had put it on the back burner..no more…uddiyana bandha, I will master you!
I loved watching this video on MobilityWOD.com – but I think what makes it really hit home is that Kelly & Jill are combining my two favorite things – CrossFit & Yoga! I’ve been trying to use this exercise to enhance my breath control and stabilizing my core in Olympic Lifting, and appreciate the continued validation as to why CrossFit and Yoga are my favorite yin and yang, and even more so why YTU is the overarching umbrella for success in both. Thanks Louis.
Is this way of Uddiyana Bandha also massage the organs, or it orientated more to build a strength of the diaphragm, or it’s always both?
This is a great video!
It was really nice to have an interview format, because it makes this information available to a different group of people perhaps not used to YTU or even yoga concepts in general.
I will incorporate this into my practice while doing bridges. Two for one efficiency.
[…] Tune Up® Blog « Building a Coregeous EmbodyMap, Part 2 Building A Coregeous EmbodiMap: Uddiyana Bandha in Action […]
This is great! Thank you. I had the opportunity to see this up close at YTU a month a go, Trina demonstrated Uddiyana Bandha breathing for us, so this is a nice refresher.
Does exhaling in setu bandha, where the rib cage is inverted, use gravity to help the diaphragm’s central tendon fall toward the top of the trunk? And am I correct that this is done with arms in flexion to facilitate pulling the rib cage open?
Exactly! This is really spot on. So many of us are stuck in patterns of control and using force to achieve a result. The technique and instruction that Jill uses helps to re pattern our habitual ways of behaving with our core and breathing muscles as well as helping to create the space for a free and clear diaphragm and relaxed abdominals. Re education at its best!
Oh.. I’m doing this in the morning. I’ve never tried it lying down and using bridge pose to access uddiyana. It looks much more accessible than the standing/squatting that everyone teaches.
This is a great demonstration and explanation of uddiyana bandha. I love that you pointed out that it is simply a release of the abdominal muscles rather than a contraction or pulling up of the diaphragm. Learning that point helped me to finally get the pose correctly. I’ve only understood the benefit of performing uddiyana bandha to be that it massages the internal organs. Are there any other benefits? A yoga instructor once told me that it is a good way of strengthening the abs “from the inside out.” Is this the case? Anything you can share about additional benefits of this pose would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
This exercise has been one of the most powerful, nourishing and toning moves that I have been practicing since my Level 1 training… I feel as though my insides are resetting after my last pregnancy and c-section 2 years ago…I cannot imagine a practice without this ~ Thank you Jill!
I’ve never quite understood Uddiyana Bandha before. I thought that in order to have the “abdominal lock” I would need to squeeze my abdominal muscles in. Now I understand that in order to really stretch and strengthen a muscle, it needs to be able to release. I’ve had trouble being able to let go of my abdominals and fully release the diaphragm, but this is a great exercise to help me gain more flexibility in the diaphragm and breathe deeper!
Today, I had one of those super awesome workouts, where I felt I could have continued to push and pull for a few more hours. That said, at the very end of what was a heavy squat mixed with active serratus planks workout, I finished it all off with a series of Uddiyana Bandha.
I learned this dynamic breathing exercise during my Yoga Tune-Up instructors’ course, and have fallen in love with it ever since.
That said, a series of Uddiyana Bandha gave wings today.
I caught a muscle at work in the video: External Intercostals. I am sure it also involves other muscles responsible for inhalation (rib elevation and expansion) such as scalene, pectoralis minor and serratus anterior when the scapula is fixed on the floor. It is such a powerful stretch for the muscles below the rib cage, I benefit greatly from the practice!
I love this video – especially b/c it’s a MWOD. I do this as part of my mobility work all the time – connecting with my diaphragm has really helped me to connect to my CrossFitting – especially my OLY lifts!
I am working on this a lot, and I absolutely love it. It gives me a sense of cleaning out a closet that I have not been in for a long time, and that emotional sense of being lighter for not having so much junk lying around. Most yoga teachers do not go here and I am thrilled that Jill and the YTU group is bringing it back into prominence.
I demo the pose and got my class doing uddiyana after you had taught that to me using your anatomical cueing. It worked!
Meow, just doesn’t look the same when I do it… Uddiyana, you are my new nemesis!
I have never had uddiyana bandha explained to me in such and understandable way. I really think this is the first time I have ever explored my diaphragm. I can literally feel it pulling and stretching it is a great sensation to become aware of. Thanks for the insight!
Wow!!
I have so much to learn with uddiyana bandha but I’ve always seen it demonstrated standing and hunched over. I like the supine version incorporating bridge. Amazing to see Jill!! Have to try soon 🙂
I always knew there was a reason I hated calculus and loved physics! This is all about volume transference and the forces that create balance as we breathe. I found this practice particularly hepful for both slowing down racing thoughts, and illuminating more subtle body blind spots, such as the intercostals.
I have never considered the intercostals involvement in spreading the chest. I’ve always been so aware of the diaphragm that I have always forgotten to look around at the other parts involved… Awareness…. hmmm..
Very cool! Big on the Tune Up ands smaller on the Yoga. That really spoke to me as I get that Yoga can benefit from this information but so can so many other movement disciplines. Bottom line Yoga Tune Up will affect everyone for the better!
I love this video!!! The way Jill explains and visualizing at the same time is much easier to understand and make perfect sense!!
This is a great way to stretch/ strength your respiratory muscles. Thank you for sharing!!
This is a great video and the combined visual cues and explanation is uber helpful to understanding this concept at a new level as I have never quite understood it like this. Having said that, I still watched the video twice to get it all to “sink” in. fabulous!
I love this. Never has Uddiyana Bandha been explained to me in this way. I can find it in myself in my yoga practice, but have never really been able to verbalize it or had the information about exactly what it was in a clear way like this. I like “abdominal vacuum” and that it’s a breath cycle that pulls the diaphragm in, and that the abdominal muscles are tied to the diaphragm. I feel like I should have understood this before, but this is a great way to visualize and feel it in our own bodies, so now I know! Thank you!!