Yoga Bandhas
Yoga Bandhas
Taking for granted that one has already practised purakas and rechakas of ten and twenty seconds respectively, for a month or so, one should, on the first day, introduce holding of breath in the last round, for ten seconds. After completing the puraka, both the nostrils should be closed, the right one with the thumb, and the left one with the last two fingers. The head should be lowered down in the front, and the chin set against the jugular notch below the throat. This technique is known as “jalandhara-bandha.” It should be accompanied by two other bandhas called respectively “mulabandha”. and “uddiyana-bandha”. The former involves contraction of the anus, the latter, contraction of the pelvis (lower abdomen). These three bandhas are supposed to have a special significance. After holding the breath for ten seconds after the putaka through the left nostril, the head may be taken to its normal erect position, the muscles of the anus and pelvis are relased, and then rechaka and the next puraka are made through the right nostril. Another kumbhaka is then made, which is followed by rechaka through the left nostril. The number of rounds involving kwnbhakas may be increased by two per week,so that within five to six weeks all the ten rounds would include holding of breath. After practising twenty kumbhakas (of ten seconds duration each) every day for about a month, the duration of each kumbhaka may be slowly increased to fifteen seconds.This would be achieved in about a month and a half, and may be practised regularly for nearly a month. Then the time may be progressively increased to twenty seconds.
There are three classic bandhas:
 Muladhara Chakra and Brahma Granthi:
The root (mula) lock moves the earth energy up through the
muladhara chakra system connecting above it to the water
chakra (swadhistana), while also serving as the valve
connecting sky energy or spirit below it to the center of the
earth. Mula bandha keeps the energy flowing between the body
and the earth in a non-dual direction (neither only up, nor
exclusively down), while it is the sushumna which connects the
earth energy of embodied existence (at the muladhara) with the
unborn formless realm of sky (at the crown of the head). The
muladhara chakra is the most important chakra in hatha,
kundalini, and tantric yoga as well as the most mysterious. It
is where our dormant potential and animal power resides and it
is from here the kundalini becomes activated and enters into
the central channel (sushumna) activating the super-conscious
network. This is not some archaic myth or fantasy, and should
not be ignored nor demeaned, but rather its knowledge is
essential to success in hatha yoga. Mulabandha is designed to
keep this energy flowing in this region.
Here it is noteworthy that in yogic literature, the goddess
kundalini is pictured as lying dormant in the muladhara chakra
in the form of a serpent coiled three and a half times around
a lingam. The symbol for this chakra is a downward facing
triangle normally, but when the chakra is activated (by an
activated kundalini) the triangle reverses upward pointing!
 Uddiyana Bandha:
Works on the Manipura Chakra and Vishnu Granthi
Uddiyana means flying upward energy lock. It is the bandha
that moves the energy upward from the earth, water, and fire
centers into the heart (air) chakra strongly influencing the
efficacy of the lower bandhas by "making room" on top. Some
claim that it helps suck the energy into the central column.
It prevents accumulated tensions, toxins, or stagnation to
develop or accumulate in the navel region. Although cleansing
through its power to remove stagnant energy there it allows
stuck or distracted energy to move through this region and up
through the sushumna which is its natural uncorrupted path,
hence it helps to purify and energize not only this region,
the front of the lower spine, but also the entire body.
 Jalandhara Bandha:
Vishuddi (Throat) Chakra and Rudra Granthi This is the
throat energy valve. Here the back of the neck elongates and
the throat softens. If you are sitting, the direction of the
movement is such that the occiput moves upward (toward the
vertex) away from the shoulders (as the posterior muscles of
the neck elongate and relax). Here the occiput also moves
slightly posterior (backward), so the chin drops inward as
well as downward toward the sternal arch. This movement is not
linear but rather sequentially curved, the general direction
is that the hyoid bone moves toward the occiput as the occiput
lifts off the shoulders, the shoulders stay down toward the
sacrum, while the center of the chest moves forward (the
middle back remaining extended). In other words hunching the
shoulders forward to get the chin to rest on the sternum will
not effect the benefits of jalandhara bandha. Rather than
conceptualizing the bandha as bringing the chin
in toward the sternal arch, it may be more efficacious to
visualize it as bringing the sternal arch up to meet the chin
by moving the heart forward, sinking the scapula, and floating
the kidney points at T12 backward and upward. This occurs by
allowing the upper thoracic column to elongate and extend,
thus relaxing and elongating tight shoulder girdle, chest, and
neck muscles. Since these tight muscles are the property of
the average person, attempting to force jalandhara bandha
without adequate preparation may result in neck or upper back
strain, but if one visualizes relaxation, lengthening, and
softening into jalandhara bandha while seeking out its energy
flow, then no strain will ensue. In this regard it may be wise
to visualize the chin moving toward the sixth cervical
vertebra (so the sixth cervical remains inferior and moves
forward (anterior). Again the movement of the hyoid bone
toward the occiput as the occiput moves up and back may be
pivotal.
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