Ashtanga Yoga: Capturing Prana


Capturing Prana

The Serpent Power

When kundalini shakti is awakened and arises from her sleep, she is the vehicle for the expansion of consciousness, enabling the individual to fully develop his innate potential and rise beyond the mundane realm of birth and death to the level of divinity.


Chela Buddhananda.

Raising Mula Bandha

Mula bandha is the force or energy created by lifting the pelvic floor and controlling the breath. It is the root lock and calls the fire within that causes everything to come alive, to move. Mula bandha increases flexibility and stimulates heat. By contracting the perineum and drawing the energy up from the base of the spine, one can intensify and direct the life energy, cultivating a sense of heightened awareness and increasing vitality. Mula bandha ignites the flame of kundalini (cosmic energy), the serpent power. By bringing awareness to the core of the body, mula bandha helps prevent injury. It guides you to move from your center, grounding you so you can become light and fluid in your yoga practice.

Practice

Mula bandha

1. Sit in a comfortable meditative pose, preferably siddhasana (with one foot into root chakra, see diagram). Close the eyes, make sure the body is completely relaxed and the spine is erect. For men, the area just inside the perineum has to be contracted, so it is best to concentrate on this area for a few minutes. Women should concentrate on the cervix, as it is the cervix and vaginal muscles which have to be contracted. After a few minutes of concentration, start to gradually contract and release the muscles of the erineum/cervix. Contraction should last for a few seconds. Keep the breath normal. Contract, release wentyfive times.

2. Prepare as above. Contract the muscles of the perineum/cervix and hold. Hold the contraction for sixty seconds, then release. Practice five times.

3. Start off with a gentle or partial contraction. Contract just a little and hold without

releasing. Then contract a little more. Continue like this, gradually increasing the tension

and contraction ten times until full contraction is reached. Hold the full contraction for sixty seconds and try to breathe normally.

4. Notice what happens when you activate mula bandha. Is it possible to contract and lift the pelvic floor and breath at the same time? Try it.

5. Take about a 30 minute period during your day and try to maintain mula bandha for the full half hour. How many times did you come out of mula bandha?


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