Uddiyana bandha: Stomach Vacuums for lower back pain
June 16th, 2022 | 
Author: After 8 years of gradually worsening lower back pain I was 100% convinced I needed surgery.
I was sure I needed my lipomas cut out from above my hip. At times the pain has been excruciating. The lumps are right there where the pain is. What else could it possibly be?
I saw doctors, physios, chiropractors – no solution.
I tried all kinds of exercises, stretches and treatments – no solution.
Finally a couple of weeks back purely by chance I started doing some stomach vacuums just messing around.
My back pain immediately decreased dramatically. Now I do it frequently during the day – my back pain is greatly reduced.
How can this be?
Well its related to having a pot gut. Walking around all day with a bloated full stomach. Having a bit too much belly fat.
This in turn weakens the core, abdominal & lower back muscles. One of which is the Transverse Abdominus. This is like your natural corset all around your waist. Its the weakening of this muscle that causes the back pain.
The lower back muscle & fascia can rupture and result in lipomas.
So stomach vacuums seem to be the best exercise for this problem. They are not the only one – there are many exercises such as planks or the ab wheel. The pullover exercise for rib cage expansion also hits this muscle.
In yoga this exercise is called Uddiyana Bandha. A more advanced stage is called Nauli Kriya.
Here is how to do Uddiyana Bandha:
Exhale completely. Notice that you do this pressing in with both your chest and abdomen. You can pretend to be blowing up a balloon as much as possible with one breath.
Do a mock inhalation using your chest, locking your glottis and restraining air from entering your lungs, and at the same time relax your abdomen. If you get confused about how to prevent air from entering your lungs, you can try to inhale (without inhaling) while blocking your mouth and nose with your hands. You should feel your chest lift.
Holding the breath, try harder to inhale while keeping your abdomen relaxed. Your upper abdomen will form a deep concavity that extends up underneath your rib cage. This is uddiyana bandha.
Relax your mock inhalation, letting your chest and abdominal organs drop and your abdomen release forward.
Press gently in with your chest and abdomen, thus equalizing air pressure on the inside and outside of the body, and gently inhale without gasping.
The best time for practice is early in the morning, with empty stomach and bowels. The contraindications for uddiyana bandha are high blood pressure, hiatal hernia, ulcers, pregnancy, and menstruation.
You may not think these are good instructions as you are not able to do a vacuum by relaxing. Initially you have to tense & actively suck the abs in using force. Really you must contract the transverse abdominal to suck in the gut. Also you dont want to do a valsalva. You can keep breathing while holding the contraction
Despite this I recall as a kid I could suck in my gut more in the way they describe. Using a vacuum rather than a muscular contraction. This is a finer part of the exercise after the initial contraction. Lets not over analyze. Maybe after doing it via contraction you can lose some fat and gain more nerve control then explore the yogic methods. Certainly to begin with its unlikely you will be capable of Nauli Kriya.
Dont be afraid to strengthen & thicken the Transverse Abdominal using contraction.
By the way I can do 1000 consecutive stomach crunches quite easily – this is a different muscle so just having strong abs or spinal erectors is not enough.
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