The word Udar is the part of the abdomen and hence, Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya is practiced for the health of the abdomen and its organs like liver, pancreas, kidney, large intestines, small intestines and the abdominal muscles like rectus abdominus. These are set of 10 abdominal exercises, which are explained below.
Table of Contents
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 1
Starting Posture
Stand straight with the feet together.
Exercise/ Technique
- Inhale through the nose slowly. While doing so, distend your abdomen as much as you can.
- After holding the breath in this posture, release it slowly and gradually, while drawing in the abdomen as much as you can, till it becomes hollow. This exercise is also known as `Uddiyana bandha‘.
Beginners should repeat five times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 2
Starting Posture
Stand erect with your feet together and your neck raised an inch above the normal.
Exercise/ Technique
- Breathing quickly and deeply through the nose (Bellows effect) distend your abdomen, and while exhaling, contract it.
- Particular care must be taken to distend and contract the abdomen to the fullest extent; the inhaling and exhaling should be rhythmic.
Beginners should repeat 25 times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 3
Starting Posture
With your feet together, stand erect and bend your head as far as it can go.
Exercise/ Technique
Breathe in and out quickly (Bellows effect) while distending and contracting the stomach in synchronisation.
Beginners should repeat 25 times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 4
Starting Posture
Stand erect with your feet together. Look at a spot four to five feet forward your toes.
Exercise/ Technique
Inhale and exhale sharply (bellow effect) distending and contracting your abdomen in synchronization.
Beginners should practice 25 times.
The above breathing exercises are similar to the first breathing exercises of Sukshama Vyayama, the only difference is the synchronisation of the breathing with the abdominal movements.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 5
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet together and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Pouting your lips suck in the air, and at the same time lower your chin to touch the sternal notch (Jalandhara bandha).
- While holding the breath, close your eyes and puff out the cheeks.
- Exhale so gradually through the nose that there is no sound at all in doing so.
- If you have held your breath for a considerable time, take particular care not to blow it out violently. That would be harmful.
Beginners should practive five times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 6
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet together and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Bend the upper part of your body forward at an angle of 60 degrees and place your hands on your hips with the fingers at the back, thumbs front.
- Inhale and exhale sharply through the nose (Bellows effect) taking care at the same time to distend and contract your abdomen.
Beginners should practice 25 times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 7
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet together and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Bend the upper part of your body forward at an angle of 90 degrees and place your hands on your hips with the fingers at the back, thumbs front.
- Inhale and exhale sharply (Bellows effect). While inhaling, the abdomen must distend; while exhaling it must contract.
Beginners should practice 25 times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 8
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet together and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Bend the upper part of your body forward at an angle of 60 degrees and place your hands on your hips with the fingers at the back, thumbs front.
- Breathe out through the nose and without breathing in distend and contract your abdomen in rapid succession. After you have held your breath to the fullest limit of your endurance, breathe in slowly. Then breathe out and distend and contract your abdomen again. Care should be taken to see that while you are busy exercising your abdomen, your breathing remains suspended.
Beginners should practice five times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 9
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet together and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Bend the upper part of your body forward at an angle of 90 degrees and place your hands on your hips with the fingers at the back, thumbs front.
- Breathe out through the nose and without breathing in distend and contract your abdomen in rapid succession. After you have held your breath to the fullest limit of your endurance, breathe in slowly. The entire operation of rapidly distending and contracting the abdomen with suspended breathing is to be treated as a single exercise.
Beginners should repeat five times.
Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya 10
Starting Posture
Stand with your feet two feet apart and the body erect.
Exercise/ Technique
- Place your hands on your knees and bend from the waist to form an angle of 90 degrees.
- Exhale completely.
- Then contract your abdomen to the fullest extent. This is called the complete Uddiyana.
- This done, stiffen the arms and allow the Nauli to stand out.
- Try to rotate it right and left, describing a circle.
Beginners should repeat 5 times.
Benefits of Udar Shakti Vikasak Kriya
About the Udar Shakti Vikasak 1, the `Yogacudamanupanisad’ says about this particular exercise: “Just as the bird who flies in the sky, in the Uddiyana posture, so does man score a victory over death, like a lion over an elephant, thanks to the vitality he receives from the Uddiyana bandha.
The Nauli is the recto abdominis, which form the front linear wall of the abdominal cavity.
The exercises for the abdomen depend for their efficacy on three processes:
- Muscular contraction of parietal abdominal muscles specially the rectus abdominis;
- Stimulation of celiac and plexuses of the autonomic nervous system; and
- Abdominal respiration.