Mula Bandha In Action

Mula Bandha may be the most befuddling, underinstructed technique in the world of yoga. Here, begin experimenting with how to integrate Mula Bandha into your asana practice.

By Hillari Dowdle with asana instruction by Tim Miller

The bandhas are mechanisms by which a yogi can direct the flow of prana, the universal life-force energy that animates and unites us all. With a few simple adjustments, you can learn to integrate Mula Bandha, one of four bandhas mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda Samhita, into your daily asana practice.

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

In Latin, "pelvis" means basin. In Tadasana, you want this basin to be in a neutral position so that if the basin were filled with a precious liquid, it wouldn't spill out the front or the back. To find this neutral position, explore the potential placement of the pelvis. Stand upright with your feet together and your arms by your sides. As you inhale, draw the hips and buttocks slightly backward and increase the curvature in the lumbar spine. This is an anterior tilt. Then, exhale and bring the hips and buttocks forward, flattening the lumbar spine and pulling the pelvis into a posterior tilt.

Do this several times, and begin to notice that when the pelvis is in the anterior position, the muscles in the lower back tighten and the inner groins shorten. When it is in the posterior tilt, the buttocks clench and, again, the groins shorten.

To find neutral, stand with your pelvis anteriorly tilted, then lightly lift first the pubic bone and then the pelvic floor as you lengthen the groins—this is Mula Bandha. To find it from the posterior position, draw your hips slightly back until the buttocks relax and the lumbar spine regains its natural curve. As you do this, lift the pelvic floor and lengthen the waist and groins—again, this is Mula Bandha.

When your pelvis is neutral and you find Mula Bandha in Tadasana, you'll feel a sense of stability without gripping.

Adho Mukha Svanasana variations (Prana Dog and Apana Dog)

Downward-Facing Dog is an excellent pose in which to practice Mula Bandha, especially if you explore two different expressions of the pose: Prana Dog, which is linked to the inhalation, and Apana Dog, which is linked to the exhalation.

From Downward Dog, inhale and extend your spine by taking your head and shoulders toward the floor, drawing your hips away from your hands, and lifting and spreading your sitting bones. This is the Prana Dog.

Then exhale and flex your spine by tucking your pelvis, slightly rounding your shoulders, drawing your ribs up, and looking toward your navel. Now you're in Apana Dog. Notice that at the end of the exhalation, the pelvic floor naturally draws upward—this is Mula Bandha.

With the next inhalation, create Prana Dog by extending your spine from your tailbone, but don't allow your ribs to sink too far toward your thighs. Keep lengthening and lightly lifting the area between the coccyx and the pubic bone, between the pubic bone and the navel, and between the navel and the lower ribs. As you exhale, return to the Apana Dog flexion position of the spine, and again focus on how the pelvic floor lifts.

Here's why: In Prana Dog it is more difficult to access the lift of the pelvic floor, whereas that lift happens naturally at the end of the exhalation in Apana Dog. With the subsequent inhalation, there is a natural tendency to release the pelvic floor and allow the rib cage to drop toward the thighs.

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