Bandhas Introduction

Sanskrit

Some translations for the Sanskrit word bandha include:

• Lock
• Hold
• Embrace
• Bondage
• Joining Together
• A Thing that Unites*
• Bind
• Tie a Bond
• Fettering
• Catching Hold
• Tie
• Attachment to World (as opposed to moksha or freedom)

* In the book Conscious Confidence, Sanskrit expert Sarah Mane explains that the Sanskrit word “bandha” is the origin of English words like “bond, bound, and binding.” See Readings & Theme Plan: Connection, Union for information on the Sanskrit word “a-sha-bandha” which is “a bond of hope, confidence, trust and expectation.”

Overview

• One of the most commonly cited translations of bandha is “lock.”
• Bandhas are a part of mudras, a larger group of yogic techniques designed to “seal energy.”
• The purpose of bandhas is to accumulate and channel prana.
• Each bandha is said to close or seal a part of body in order to contain and direct energy.
• These locks are practiced by isolating or constricting a part of the body in some manner.
• However, bandhas are advanced practices that are intended to be relatively subtle.

USE KUMBHAKA TO DIVERT PRANA

The bandhas are part of a larger group of yogic techniques called mudras, energy seals. The bandhas have in common with many other mudras their use during kumbhaka in diverting prana into a desired direction. – Gregor Maehle

USING BANDHAS TO CLEAR OUT IMPURITIES

Yogis say that… impurities accumulate over time. Those impurities clog our systems and prevent prana from entering the central channel (sushumna nadi). So, it is advisable to clear out those impurities. How do we do that? We lift them up using mula bandha (contraction of the pelvic floor muscles), and then we hold them close to the fire by engaging uddiyana bandha (abdominal contraction and lift). As a result, the impurities are reduced to ashes, amrta evaporates from them and rises up to replenish the lake of the mind; and you engage jalandhara bandha (lowering the chin) to preserve that essence, preventing it from dripping down. – Olga Kabel

MUCH MORE SUBTLE THAN MOST PEOPLE TEND TO DO THEM

The bandhas are actually very difficult actions to make; most people tend to do them from a misguided physical place at first. Clenching the buttocks and sucking the lower belly in are not the correct actions—they should be much more subtle. I must say that, after 20 years of practice, I am just now starting to get a grasp on them. The concept of the bandhas and my actual experience of them were two very different things. – Nicki Doane