The bandhas are a commonly misunderstood part of yoga practice, or at best vague. They can be a difficult concept to take on board – especially when you’ve already breath and balance and gaze and ‘relax your shoulders’ and ‘soften your face’ to think about! Having to think about internal alignment as well – gah! But here’s the good news – don’t get hung up about the bandhas; as you develop external alignment and understanding of the postures, they start to come naturally. Let them develop as your practice develops.  It’s good to have a bit of an understanding of them though, so that as you progress with your practice, you can start to recognise them and integrate the bandhas into your yogic life.

Bandha is a Sanskrit word, most commonly translated as to lock, to bind or to hold.  When I first heard this in a yoga class long, long ago, in my head I heard lock as in ‘a canal lock’.  Maybe it was my years of canal-side dog walking (I’ve never heard of this analogy being used elsewhere, before or since!) but it kind of made sense to me: the Bandhas are a way to seal (lock) energy in the body, harness energy and move energy up through the body, just as a canal lock controls water to allow a boat’s passage.

The Bandhas have a precise physical space in the body; they also describe a more metaphysical idea of energy movement.  Here are the three main bandhas, along with Maha Bandha – the big daddy which is the combination of all three.

Mula Bandha (‘moo-la ban-dar’)

This is probably the one you’re most likely to have heard in class in reference to the pelvic floor.  Mula Bandha is the root lock and is located at the base of the body.  Think of Mula Bandha as the lock or seal that holds energy in and allows it to flow upwards through the body.

How to find it:

Imagine you really need a wee…all those muscles you’re clenching – this is the region of mula bandha, in the soft tissue of the basin of the pelvis.  When first practicing this, you’ll probably find that everything down there tightens up, but with a bit of practice, you can start to refine this area; you can see below in this diagram the precise location, whether your yogi or yogini:

How it benefits your yoga practice:

Retaining energy inside the body as you practice encourages that energy to grow exponentially – helping you to feel lighter during class, hold poses for longer without fatigue and float out of class at the end (the yogic high)!  Many practitioners state that mula bandha should be held throughout your whole yoga practice!

Benefits off the mat:

Practicing with mula bandha has been shown to stimulate pelvic nerves and help to balance and regulate the endocrine and excretory systems as well as relieve constipation and depression.

Uddiyana Bandha (‘Udy-yana Ban-dar’)

The next lock or seal is found around the centre of the torso, around the diaphragm.  Uddiyana means to fly up, or to rise up and this bandha is all about your insides – stomach, diaphragm and internal organs – as well as your energy – flying upwards.

How to find it:

Start standing tall with feet a good step apart.  Inhale through the nose.  As you exhale through the mouth, fold forwards and place your hands just above the knees.  Without inhaling, close your lips and make the action of inhaling – a ‘mock inhalation’ if you like – from the belly without actually doing so – it should feel like a vacuum is created inside and the abdominal wall and internal organs are drawn up and back towards the spine, under the rib cage.  Hold this for as long as is comfortable and exit by inhaling through the nose and slowly standing up straight.

How it helps your yoga practice:

Uddiyana Bandha can be hugely transformative to your yoga practice, as it moves energy upwards more powerfully than Mula Bandha alone, helping you to jump more easily, find inversions with more stability and lightness and twist more deeply.

Benefits off the mat:

Uddiyana Bandha creates a soft massage for the deep internal muscles of the lower back.  It stimulates the digestive system, and so can increase metabolism, tone the abdominal organs and can be used as a remedy for stomach ailments.  It also helps to regulate the adrenal system, helping to alleviate stress, tension and lethargy.

Jalandhara Bandha:

….is the double chin you do want.  Jalandhara Bandha is the throat lock (Jal meaning throat; Jalan meaning net; dharan meaning flow or stream) which controls the flow of energy in the neck and head – it’s the top seal, to mula bandha’s root seal, retaining energy within the space of the body.

How to find it:

Sit tall in a comfortable position.  Place the hands on the knees and inhale deeply through the nose, then bring the chin down towards your neck – making a ‘double chin’ – and slightly lift the sternum.  Press the hands onto the knees and straighten the arms.  Pull your chin in even further and hold for as long as possible.  To leave the bandha, lift your chin and inhale to the remaining capacity of the lungs, then fully exhale.

How it helps your yoga practice:

Jalandhara Bandha is most often practiced in combination with specific breathing exercises (the Breath of Fire – ‘Kapalabhati’ ­– for example) and not often on its own.  However, I find it useful to loosely engage this bandha in many asana, just to the point that the neck is lengthened (not fully bringing the chin into the neck, just drawing the top of the head upwards so that the chin isn’t raised and the head is level).  This ensures a long spine and no cramping or straining in the neck and shoulders.  On a more metaphysical level, by doing this we also encourage the flow of energy around the body helping us to hold poses more stably, more comfortably and for longer.

Benefits off the mat:

By compressing the sinuses on the main arteries of the neck helps to regulate the circulatory and respiratory systems and the pressure on the throat helps to balance the thyroid and metabolism.  Engaging Jalandhara Bandha is also said to trigger instant mental relaxation and provide stress and anger relief.  Break out the double chin whenever you need to!

Maha Bandha: 

Not a separate bandha but the combination of all three of these major bandhas.  Maha means great and by engaging all three bandhas at once can hugely boost energy and focus, gaining benefits of all three bandhas, stimulating, balancing and regulating internal systems of the entire body – hormonal, sexual, metabolic, digestive and more.

To practice Maha Bandha, sit in a comfortable seat with hands on the knees.  Take a full breath in, and all the way out entirely emptying out the lungs.  Without inhaling, engage Mula Bandha, then find Uddiyana Bandha.  Inhale a tiny amount and lift the chest and drop the chin to engage Jalandhara Bandha.   Hold this for as long as possible, pressing palms down onto the knees.  When you feel ready to exit, lift your head, inhale fully and release all the bandhas.

So there you have it! The three major bandhas plus the big daddy bandha! Lock and load and see the effects in your practice and your understanding of the body from the inside out.

Would love to hear your experience of practicing these – get in touch in the comments below 🙂

Love & lightness,

xoxo lucyogini

When I first started out, my yoga practice was all about the physical.  I pushed myself to strong, fast paced classes, building strength, and yes  – seeing results. And don’t get me wrong, I still maintain that a good vinyasa flow class is exceptionally good for the soul! But. Then I discovered the Yin side. And a whole new approach to practice opened up.  And though my monkey-mind rebelled at sitting still for what seemed an eternity, my heart said you know this makes sense and my body rejoiced at the stillness – the permission to be quiet.  Yin has been described as the other half of yoga practice, the side that many modern forms don’t give a lot of attention.  And though all yoga looks to create balance, Yin offers us another way to find it, on maybe even deeper levels. Balance to the heat-building yoga we practice; balance to our all too often hectic, frantic lives. This isn’t about choosing between the classes – this is an invitation to see how combining the two – the Yin and the Yang – can lead you to better yoga practice and better living, on and off the mat.

Yin is a deeply meditative approach to asana (poses) based yoga practice.  Yin Yoga targets the deep connective tissues of the body, the fascia and joints.  Moving slowly and passively holding poses for longer (from 2 to 20(!) minutes) we give the body – and mind – time and space to open, both physically and emotionally.  It is a deeply nourishing practice and can open up whole new levels of flexibility that just sweating it out can’t get you to.

There are three principles of Yin Yoga: “Playing with our edges”, “remaining still” and “holding a pose for time”.   Most yin postures (and there are only 3 dozen or so, compared to the thousands used in other modern asana yoga practices) are floor based, and with the use of a cushion or bolster can be practiced almost anywhere.

What to expect from a yin yoga class:

Slowness and stillness might sound easier, but don’t be fooled.  This is deep work and just because you’re not breaking a sweat doesn’t mean nothing is happening.  Far from it.

In Yin Yoga the point isn’t to warm up muscles but rather keep the muscles cool as this enables the stretch to go deeper into the connective tissues.

Yin is an intimate form of practice that requires you to get intimately acquainted with the self, feelings, sensations and emotions, something that our busy lives (and in more ‘yang’ style yoga classes) we can find easy to sidestep.  Strong emotions can surface during the Yin practice when poses are held for longer.  Don’t let that scare you, the body has innate wisdom and will only release (emotionally and physically) when it’s ready – this is detoxing on an emotional level and can be a cathartic experience.

Why practice Yin?

If you’re used to faster paced yoga styles – not to mention our fast paced lifestyles – Yin might at first seem too slow, too simple and well…..kind of boring.  I recommend giving a Yin class at least a few tries before you dismiss it – it is a complex practice with a myriad of benefits.  On a physical level, Yin can improve the natural range of motion in the joints as by keeping muscles soft, deep layers of connective tissue are released.  On an energetic level, Yin has been likened to doing an acupressure session on yourself, clearing energy lines (nadis in yoga, or meridians in Chinese medicine) which support the organs, immune system, hormones and emotional well being.

On a mental level, intense sensations can arise during Yin practice.  Holding postures for longer asks us to stay with these sensations rather than moving quickly away to the next pose.  It becomes a meditation in itself, training us to sit with sensation and even discomfort rather than becoming alarmed. It asks us to surrender to the moment.

What are the benefits?

–          Balancing for body + mind

–          Regulates energy in the body

–          Increases joint mobility + health

–          Find deeper flexibility

–          Lowers stress levels

–          Provides balance to hectic lifestyles

–          Enables deeper relaxation

–          Better management of stress and anxiety

–          Better ability to sit in meditation

–          Ultimately, a better & deeper ‘yang’ yoga practice

–          A deeper, more intimate understanding of ourselves.

Yin Yoga is a completely different way of practicing, an antidote to our rushing and pushing.  Come along and realign your yin-yang balance at our monthly Yin Yoga classes – you can find details of our next class here.

Shanti omm,

xoxo lucyogini