Keep It Locked

Dear Yogis,

Do you hear teacher instructions about engaging bandhas (Mula, Uddiyana and Jalandhara) and tune them out? It isn’t a surprise if you do. Using bandhas is very much like getting used to postures: they reveal themselves only when the body is ready, that is, when you gain enough openness and steadiness in a posture to spend five breaths exploring it. To recap, Mula Bandha is the pelvic floor lift, Uddiyana Bandha is drawing in and lifting the lower abdominals, Jalandhara Banda is lowering the chin and lengthening the back of the neck.

The first thing you might hear about bandhas is that employing these ‘locks’ is like a secret weapon. They allow extraordinary things: Mula Bandha (pelvic floor lift) conjures up perfect jump-throughs, Uddiyana Bandha (lower abdominals) is the ‘flying lock’ for lightness, Jalandhara Bandha (throat lock) destroys old age and death. More unhelpful advice comes along... You hear that you are supposed to engage the bandhas throughout your practice. Confusingly, Beryl Bender Birch talks about closing the pelvic floor lock with the imagination, with ‘pranic awareness’.

Y’know, it seems to me that the bandhas are already part of the posture. You just have to look! It starts like this: In Sun Salutations you notice that the third movement, the inhalation with the half-way lift, scoops in your abdominals, your Uddiyana Bandha. You begin to notice other postures that have half lifts to enter the posture, providing you with your abdominal lift and back protection. In seated postures, tilting the pelvis back, tucking the tailbone, gives you Uddiyana engagement.

What about two or three-bandha postures? You can have all of them in Downward Facing dog! In your first twist, Rotated Triangle pose, you start with a half-lift – Uddiyana tick. Then rotate and squeeze pelvic floor to contribute to the stability of the legs – Mula Bandha tick. Turning your chin to your shoulder is a half Jalandhara Bandha - tick!

Beryl Bender Birch says;’ The whole methodology of astanga yoga is about learning to pay attention’. True! You notice patterns, repetitions, opportunities and similarities. Bandhas are part of the whole. It does help. It isn’t magic, it’s practice.

Zoom Classes

I have an upgraded booking system. Same but different. Here’s what happens. As soon as someone books a class, a class is generated and the link which contains the ID and Password is automatically sent out. The email has ‘What, When and Where’. The long, two-line URL for the class is there. It’s a little different for the people who book a week’s pass. That isn’t so automatic. I will book you in and then you’ll get your email with the link.

Try here: goodtimesyoga.co.uk/book-online. It’s PayPal but let me know if you would prefer my bank details. No problem. Classes are a fiver or £12 for the week or a donation of your choice or, if you fancy private classes, £30.

Yoga in the news

The Observer has: How one hour of slow breathing changed my life. ‘Seven books of the Chinese Tao dating back to around 400BC focussed entirely on breathing, how it could kill us or heal us, depending on how we used it. Even earlier, Hindus considered breath and spirit the same thing and described elaborate practices that were meant to balance breathing and preserve both physical and mental health. Then there were the Buddhists, who used breathing not only to lengthen their lives but to reach higher planes of consciousness. Breathing, for all these people, for all these cultures, was powerful medicine’.

The BBC has: Doctor demonstrates breathing technique for Coronavirus patients. On the importance of lying on your front after this technique: ‘The majority of your lung is on your back, not on your front. So, by lying on your back you’re closing off more of the airways’.

The Times has: Ordinary People author Diana Evans on the power of yoga (for people with subscription).