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elderberry
USA
37 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 22 2024 : 7:25:29 PM
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Hey guys,
I have had uddiyana in my asana practice for a while. As a standalone practice, it makes a ton of sense to me.
However, I have been struggling to integrate it as a practice during spinal breathing pranayama.
I am experiencing two points of confusion.
1. When I perform uddiyana during my asana practice, it is with air fully exhaled from my lungs. In other words, I am not actively breathing while I am performing uddiyana. When I do it this way, I essentially perform uddiyana by creating "negative pressure" in my diaphragm. (Best way I can describe it). When I do this, I can feel my diaphragm being actively pulled up, almost behind my solar plexus.
However, when I attempt to perform uddiyana while simultaneously breathing, I struggle to pull the abdomen/diaphragm in via this sense of "negative pressure". The process of actively breathing seems to restrict this ability. Instead, the best I am able to do is pull my stomach in using my abdominal muscles.
So, when I perform uddiyana during SBP it feels more like a flexing/pulling of abdominal muscles rather than a negative pressure pull from the diaphragm/lungs. Is this correct practice? Or should I be looking to create this "negative pressure" effect while I am actively breathing?
2. Uddiyana feels like its in a bit of a battle with yogic breathing. If I am at the top or the bottom of a breath in sbp, it feels easy enough to pull uddiyana inwards. Here is my problem however. I will engage uddiyana by pulling my lower abdomen inwards. Then, I will perform yogic breathing (breathing air directly into your diaphragm/allowing your stomach to expand with the inhalation). This direct breathing of air into my diaphragm/abdomen seems to naturally release any abdominal pull or tension I place there.
Another way to explain it is, I feel I can maintain uddiyana much better when I "just breath into my lungs" rather than taking a full diaphragmatic breath.
The process of breathing into the diaphragm and expanding the stomach seems to disengage the tension I am attempting to create via uddiyana.
Any tips would be appreciated! |
Edited by - elderberry on Jun 22 2024 7:27:47 PM |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4428 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2024 : 8:23:20 PM
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Hi Elderberry,
It is fine to use a light uddiyana bandha during SBP if you wish to. Light can be anything from a gentle contraction of the lower abdominal muscles to just a slight intention to contract these muscles without any physical movement taking place. The same goes for mulabandha, it can be a mere intention to contract the muscles at the anus and the muscles above that going up towards the belly.
When uddiyana bandha is practised in this way it should not interfere with any breathing technique you are using. If it does then you can either leave the bandha out, or the breathing technique. It is not a big deal.
Uddiyana during SBP is not practiced in the same way as it is during standing uddiyana bandha in the AYP asana sequence, unless it is happening automatically that way, which can happen for some practitioners. |
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TensorTympani
USA
79 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 12:34:24 AM
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I think this dynamic form of uddiyana, that you can also do while breathing, is called Navi Kriya in the lessons https://www.aypsite.org/275.html
I found that doing this very subtly during SBP made the solar centering in DM and samyama very natural. |
Edited by - TensorTympani on Jul 03 2024 04:49:46 AM |
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Blanche
USA
867 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 2:02:35 PM
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Hi Elderberry,
You are right when you say that doing uddiyana bandha during SBP is different than when you do it as a stand-alone practice. During the asana practice, uddiyana bandha is done with empty lungs (ok, almost empty), while during SBP uddiyana bandha is done with full lungs.
As you practice SBP, you do the full yogic breath, and at the top of the breath when the lungs are full, you apply uddiyana bandha by gently pulling the diaphragm in. You could feel how naturally the mulabandha and jalandhara bandha are also engaged. This created a pressure "pot" from the neck to the end of the spine " the caldron of transformation" which amplifies the kundalini energy and increases purification. As you direct the energy up with the attention toward the third eye and by sustaining sambhavi mudra, the energy gently rises purifying the nervous system and the subtle body. You may hold your breath quite easily here, but do not force it.
When you are ready to exhale, let go of the uddiyana bandha. This might trigger the release of mulabandha and jalandhara bandha, and this is ok. In time, you will be able to manage separately these elements and maintain some level of these bandhas during the entire practice. Just practice easily and you will discover how natural the practice becomes.
As about navi kriya, it is better to keep that for the asana practice. Yes, both navi kriya and nauli can be practiced with the lungs full and promote deep intense purification, but practicing them during SBP will be too distracting. During SBP we focus on purifying and opening the central channel and bringing up the subtle energy in the nervous system in preparation for meditation.
Thus, during SBP we apply uddiyana bandha and the rest of the add-ons and this should make for an excellent practice.
The guru is in you. 
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Edited by - Blanche on Jul 04 2024 1:35:51 PM |
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elderberry
USA
37 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 2:38:47 PM
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Hey Blanche,
That makes so much more sense, thank you so much.
Performing uddiyana at the top of the breath during SBP feels easy peasy. It was really the whole "trying to do it while simultaneously breathing" which was giving me trouble.
However, it does seem like performing uddiyana during the top of the breath will lead to an increased presence of intentional kumbhaka during SBP. As far as I'm aware, intentional kumbhaka during SBP is a bit of a deviation from the AYP system. Whereas a bit of automatic kumbhaka during SBP is to be expected and is considered fine.
Someone correct me on this if I have it wrong :)
But if that is the case, I suppose we can just keep the uddiyana/breath hold at the top of the breath super short (like 2-3 seconds) which is really more of just a brief pause rather than any kind of breath retention, and that will reconcile everything nicely. |
Edited by - elderberry on Jul 03 2024 3:01:03 PM |
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TensorTympani
USA
79 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 5:13:43 PM
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Yogani gives different versions of navi kriya in this lesson. I only do very subtle movements during SBP:
"Finally, with our attention, we can trace the energy up and down the spinal nerve between brow and root with each lift and release, much the way we do in spinal breathing. In fact, navi kriya can be done during spinal breathing in just this way, very subtly, invisibly, with the slightest intention, with multiple tiny lifts on the way up the spine and multiple tiny lifts on the way down the spine."[Yogani]
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Christi
United Kingdom
4428 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 8:18:04 PM
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Hi Elderberry and all,
You can add a short intentional breath retention to either end (or both ends) of the Spinal Breathing Pranayama practice if you wish to. It is not part of the AYP baseline system, which is why it is not mentioned in lesson 41, or in the AYP Spinal Breathing Pranayama book. But if you are at an advanced stage of practice where you are being drawn to do this, then there is no harm, as long as you are careful and watch out for any excessive purification happening. Even a short breath retention is powerful when combined with Spinal Breathing Pranayama.
See here from one of Yogani's forum posts:
"As you know, when breath retention is added to SBP or nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing), it brings more power into the practice. When that is combined with deep meditation, mudras, bandhas, siddhasana, samyama, etc, breath retention will become all the more powerful. And, yes, delayed reactions are possible. That's why we add only one thing at a time and see how it goes over weeks and months, or maybe years! 
Which isn't to say you should not be adding kumbhaka to SBP. Only that it is difficult to predict the results. That is why it is not in the AYP baseline system. So tread with caution and self-pace as necessary. Breath retention is among the most powerful of the energy practices, especially when combined with mudras, bandhas and followed by deep meditation." [Yogani]
That is from the AYP Plus forum here:
https://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/...23#msg137123 |
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elderberry
USA
37 Posts |
Posted - Jul 03 2024 : 8:35:11 PM
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Very useful clarification christi thank you!
I often trend towards a bit of breath retention in my SBP. It seems to arise halfway between intentional and automatic, depending on what is happening in my body.
So its good to hear that its alright to do so. |
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