Bandhas – Energy Locks

If you have taken a good Ashtanga or Vinyasa class, you’ve probably heard “Activate your bandhas!”  Bandhas are one of the three pillars of Tristana, and thus fundamental to asana practice. The bandhas are one of the most important yoga tools, and will help you support your back for safety and move with far more grace. Having a powerful and controlled midsection  is essential, both physically and energetically. Learn your bandhas here, practice with a teacher, and then keep them active a third of the way for most of your day unless you have a tight pelvic floor.

Bandhas – The secret energy locks of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

The bandhas are considered one of the three elements of Tristana – the three most essential yoga practices. Using your bandhas will help you with standing balancing poses, arm balances, jumping pose transitions, inversions, and throughout your entire practice. It takes a bit of time to master them, but work on them! Before you know it, the bandhas will become a regular part of your practice and even your life.

The Three Main Bandhas

Three main bandhas exist in the body. Mulabandha is activated by lifting the pelvic floor. Udiyyanabandha is activated by lifting the belly in and up. The two together help protect the lower back, sustain length in the spine, and keep the energy powerful in the body. Jalandharabandha helps create length in the neck and stimulate energy in the throat and the chest.

Mulabandha – Root Lock

The root bandha sits at the root of the spine. Lift the pelvic floor to help activate it. You can imagine it as lifting a diamond-shaped hammock between the anus and genitals and stretching it tight. It is a similar action to that of doing kegel exercises.

Try to slow down the flow of urine while using the toilet without using your abs, gluteus or leg muscles; you are probably using the correct muscles. Another way to find mulabandha is to try and pull the pubic bone back towards the tailbone, and the tailbone forward towards the pubic bone. As they reach for each other, they activate mulabandha.

Benefits

Mulabandha or Moola Banda is not easy to find and keep, but when we learn to activate it, it is powerful far beyond its physicality. It is located at the root of the energy source– where the coiled serpent sleeps (the kundalini power), waiting to be awakened. Mulabandha helps with the stability of the poses and serves as a strong foundation for all movement in the body. It evokes uddiyanabandha (see below) to action and stimulates energy to rise.

This amazing book is entirely about mulabandha. I consider it very worth reading.

Uddiyanabandha – Flying Up Bandha

Uddiyanabandha sits about two fingers-width below the navel. Activate it by lifting the belly in and up. Lift in a gentle way, so you can still breathe fully. Activate the transverse abdominal muscles (inner abdominal muscles). Another way to feel uddiyanabandha is to breathe deeply into the space between the shoulder blades. This automatically helps activate a light uddiyanabandha.

Benefits

Uddiyanabandha is engaged during asana practice to help support the lower back and strengthen the core. It also helps lengthen the lower back, so that there is more space between the vertebrae, especially L4 and L5. This in turn helps support the whole torso so it can stay steady, thus protecting the lower back. Protecting the back is important in all poses, but especially in standing balance poses as well as arm balances and inversions. uddiyanabandha continues the flow of energy rising up towards the heart energy center.

Note: There should be a feeling of space even as uddiyanabandha is engaged, without tightness. This is different from the uddiyanabandha kriya that is done by lifting the belly all the way in and up in a complete exhalation and holding for a few moments. We do not practice uddiyanabandha kriya during the flow of asana practice. Instead we engage about a quarter of the way.

Jalandharabandha – Throat Lock

Lengthen the neck, and then, as if you are trying to hold a tennis ball under your chin, tuck the chin in towards the space between the collarbones, then re-lengthen the neck. Your chin will still be down, but you do not need to keep the head all the way down.

Benefits

Jalandharabandha helps create length in the neck and stimulate energy in the throat and chest. Jalandarabandha stimulates blood circulation in the entire body. It also helps lower your blood pressure and calms the mind.

Mulabandha and uddiyanabandha together bring apana vayu (one of the pranas) towards the agni (fire of the third chakra). This reverses the flow of energy, bringing it up instead of down, and helps bring toxins from below to agni – the fire. This fire burns and eliminates the toxins.

Share the Strength

Please comment and let me know what you think. Do you use the bandhas in your practice? How about off the mat? Please share your experience with the bandhas and share this article with your friends so they can activate theirs too!

To learn more about the bandhas and how they can be used in our practices and our daily lives, please join us for a yoga retreat or yoga teacher training at Doron Yoga & Zen Center in Guatemala.

For more information on yogic applications that will transform your practice, check out the Doron Yoga Manual for a wealth of tips and tricks!

Blissful Living,

Doron