Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

sexual organs, increases heat and concentration, builds upward moving energy, and can protect the lower back. Mula Bandha can be applied during any posture and even used throughout an entire yoga session. I have often found, however, that even when students try to hold Mula Bandha continuously, they in fact are holding it intermittently. When you are trying to hold it, you will notice from time to time that you have let go. Simply begin holding the lock again. You can also practice contracting and releasing Mula Bandha with twenty or thirty repetitions a couple of times a day in order to tone important muscles and the sexual organs. I don’t agree with those who say you must always hold the root lock during asana sessions. My good friend and mentor, Swami Venkates, had a great saying: “Always is always wrong, and never is never right.” Rather than giving a series of rules and specifying asanas and times to use the lock, I suggest experimenting with bandhas, experiencing their effects, and determining when they are appropriate. With practice, patience, and attention you will learn the secrets of this lock in time.
    Jalandhara Bandha is activated by pressing the chin into the jugular notch in the collarbone while rolling the tongue back to touch the soft palate. It is used in certain breathing practices, especially on retention, and occasionally in asana.
    Uddiyana Bandha is a lifting or a firming and contracting of the abdominal muscles. It increases strength and energizes the postures. The lock is best learned from a qualified teacher because one can easily cause incorrect breathing if it is not properly applied. This is because when holding this bandha one may tend to stop using the diaphragm or to use it in a tight or backward-moving manner.
    All three of these locks can be applied simultaneously during retention in pranayama to build strength, to increase heat, and to circulate energy flows. Uddiyana Bandha, augmented by Mula Bandha, strengthens the physical body, the musculature, and the energy body. This strengthening effect can be demonstrated with muscle testing, and a well known similar principle in martial arts is to hold the solar plexus area, called the
hara
point, firmly. Using bandhas during practice helps keep these muscles toned and activated so they function properly when needed by the body.

Traction, Torque, and Leverage
    One of the wonderful things about yoga practice is that it can be done almost anywhere. Many poses can be accomplished in only the space the body occupies. Yoga requires little or no equipment and the body itself becomes the player, the instrument, and the music. After you are able to hold an asana comfortably with good alignment, you can start experimenting with using traction, torque, and leverage. Leverage can be created against external supports, such as the floor or a wall, or generated from within internal alignments of muscle and bone. Using one part of your body to push on another part combines internal and external leverages.
    Use leverage and traction to create internal torque and precise articulations of joints and muscles. These biomechanics build strength, create internal opening, and relieve compression. For example, in the Plank pose, Downward Dog, or Headstand, you can press against the floor to create more lift in the spine. You can also press your legs against each other to strengthen muscles and create an opening in the sacral area that releases back tension.
    Becoming aware of and learning to use
isometric
and
isotonic
tensions is also very helpful. Isometric tension pushes against a fixed resistance so that the muscle’s length remains the same. Pushing the palms together against each other creates isometric pressure. You can also use isometric pressures to learn how to press different inner energy planes into external objects like the floor or wall. For example, you can press an energy line up the inner side of your legs by pressing down through the arches of your feet to the floor. Similarly, you can create a line of energy up the outer edges of your leg by pressing the outer edges of your feet into the floor. To experience how this works, try holding a ledge, table, or sink with your hands, and then push, pull, or lean away to experiment with some isometric levers.
    In isotonic movements, resistance remains constant while muscle length changes. Push-ups, chin-ups, and pull-ups are isotonic exercises—they use one’s body weight as the resistance.