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| seems that most questions i ask of my teacher in ashtanga, i get the response 'it's bandha!' (eg. for headstands, straight leg lifts, jump throughs, etc). which got thinking... are there any particular postures, or even exercises, that develop bandha strength? i'm questioning this particularly as the bandhas seem to be elusive and much more than muscle-based so would doing ab crunches for example, really help?
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| No, best method is doing the practice everyday... |
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| join a band, ha! |
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Veteran
Posts: 163
 
| I think that going from dolphin to low plank and back are great exercises for strengthening uddiyana bhanda. also holding low plank.....it's great. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 574
| Its not all about the bandhas! Its just an easy way out of not understanding something and trying to sound clever. I agree-join a band ha, or get an elastic band ha and aim it at your teacher next time he says the answer is bandha. Then you tell him the answer is non violence to yourself and others especially the some of the ashtanga yogis he do not know the difference between comfort and discomfort and force so much on there poor selves. |
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Member
Posts: 32
| Hi bobuboy
It often IS all about the bandhas, even though that can be a bit of a glib answer.
I think in this case the answer is in the question - the way to increase your bandha strength is to hold your bandhas as you practice the primary series. Continue to try to to jump back/jump through etc and through that practice your bandhas will be come stronger (presuming you remember to keep them engaged).
Doing crunches and those kinds of exercise won't really help, though you may find some benefit in practising nauli (for uddiyana bandha at least) or practising the full bandha lock as an exercise in itself rather than the more gentle form of uudiyana bandha that you hold through an ashtanga practice.
om shanti.
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| a large part of it is the bandhas. other parts of it are things like accessability of other muscle groups needed in the process, etc.
you're right that crunches, et al, won't reach it. crunches work the outter or more surface abdominal muscles, and so you need to find access to, and methods of utilizing, the bandhas (pelvic floor muscles--mula bandha--and transverse abdominal muscles--uddiyana bandha).
practicing ujjayi breathing independent of class can help one feel the access of the bandhas. i've been particularly focusing on bandha work via pranayama since i had my baby--in addition to using it in asana practice. during pranayama practice for ujjayi pranayama, you draw mula and uddiyana bandha in such that it makes a "cave" under the ribs and hip bones--belly toward spine.
i haven't quite gotten nauli yet myself (though i can get it occassionally), and it is also a good practice. i'm sure that if i'm taught it again, and i go in with an open mind, i'll probably get it. LOL but, it is a great practice also. |
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| Holding half plank (plank on your elbows with your forearms on the floor, palms down, abdomen lifted in and up) and then lifting your right arm and left leg and holding (KEEP BREATHING!) for five to ten breaths and then alternating. Do several repetitions and end with child pose. Try it! It will help develop the core strength needed for many poses.
Another pose that can help is supine eagle. i.e. Eagle pose lying on your back on the floor. Lift your abdomen in and up, touch your elbows to your knees, lift your tailbone off the floor and breathe. Remember to do both sides.
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| Also, please remember to work both the back as well as the front core muscles. Working the front without working the back can lead to imbalances that result in back pain and other problems. Locust and half locust are good examples. |
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Member
Posts: 16
| Could anyone please explain what bandhas are, and their impact on body and mind in medical, scientific terms? I mean, avoiding statements like Swenson's "Bandhas are a series of internal energy gates within the subtle body which assist in the regulation of pranic flow.", but explaining the concept in terms of sports medicine. Is there something similar in gym or any sports?
I am not clear whether Bandhas is something you have to believe in, or whether it can be translated into western medical language.
Thanks for some hints to a beginner in Ashtanga.
Dage |
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Member
Posts: 32
| But David S's definition is pretty much definitive I think. If you're going to take on board the concept of energy locks (which is what bandhas are) then you have to take in the idea that we are spiritual beings, energy fields, repositories of divine energy. This is the basis of the whole practice of yoga.
There aren't really any medical equivalents, although you can locate where they would be anatomically if they were physical (I'm sure that makes no sense).
If you're a beginner and find all this hard to swallow, then keep practising. It'll all come clear in a few years - all those advanced ashtangis you see in class floating gracefully from asana to asana - thats what bandhas do!:-) |
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| yes, it's a contraction of the pelvic floor muscles and the transverse abdominals. that's basically it at the physical level. kegels work the pelvic floor similarly (difference being that kegels are done in contract-release, whereas a bandha is held continuiously during practice), and pilates uses these as well for "the girdle."
in general, as one becomes more fit, these muscles are used anyway, even though not consciously. it's partly why iyengar doesn't speak to it specificially in his teaching--he noted that eventually the students do it on their own.
but, swenson is correct that they are internal energy gates. a bandha means a "lock" (as in a lock and dam system) and it locks up and moves energy this way or that way (there are multiple bandhas in the body--the three primary are mula or "root" at the base of the torso and thus the pelvic floor, uddiyana or "flying up" which is the transverse abdominals, and jalandhara which is named after a sage and the throat lock). it's an integral part of pranayama--which is "energy management" and refers predominately to the breathing techniques in yoga.
if you do not "believe in" the energy body from the eastern/vedfic/yoga perspective, that's fine. bandhas still exist at the physical level. you might find, later on, that you "feel" the energy body and then believe in it. |
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| There are different definitions of bandhas and different points of view.
1. Bandhas were originally seen as stopping or blocking the flow of spiritual energy in a specific channel (nadi) of the body by a particular yogic posture or set of muscle contractions. Bandhas in this school of thought are physical locks that lock spiritual energy. This definition relies on the existence of an astral or spiritual body which is a matter of belief and is not verifiable.
2. Today, bandhas are more often seen as the tightening the pelvic floor (Mula) and engaging the abdominal muscles (Udiyana) during asana or pranayama in order to stabilize and strengthen core muscles and the pelvis and lower spine. This definition has verifiable advantages in asana practice.
We, as well as all living things, are a constant flow of biochemical reactions that release energy that we (our conscious minds) experience as life. We can call this "divine", "spiritual" or anything else that we want, but the bottom line is that life is energy. The human mind can, with practice, become more aware of this energy that flows throughout all living things and can direct it within our bodies to a certain extent. Whether you look at this through a traditional "Yogic", a New Age, or a modern scientific paradigm does not matter as these are only different words used to describe a single physical reality. Energy, nutrition, waste products, oxygen (the catalyst), hormones, information etc etc all flow throughout our bodies. Life is literally a flow, not a fixed thing. Learning to be more in tune with your own personal flow is a major objective of yoga practice.
Edited by jimg 2009-09-18 1:32 PM
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Member
Posts: 16
| Three very interesting replies, thanks. For now, I will forget about bandhas, at least in their original reading, but I am curious to see what I will say or experience after a few years of practice. |
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| well, i wouldn't forget about the muscular contractions. even if you don't call them bandhas or don't think of them in the energetic term, the contraction is important for the safe and most effective way to move through the postures. |
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Member
Posts: 16
| I will mind your advice. In the meantime I spent some time reading previous posts - about bandhas and other topics. An amazing wealth of information, opinions and arguments ! |
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| Everything I do involves the Bandhas. Even when I do my pilates classes I to mulla bandha. Also when I do some weight training. I use it for everything. I also use if for better posture. |
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| I did a little experimenting the other day, that helped me get more aware of my mula bandha: I was trying to *test* the possibility of jumping through with straight legs in the vinyasas (I'm one of those "short armed" people that can't reach floor in Dandasana..), and really concentrating on getting my butt waaaay up there and really sucking in both bandhas. I did get 30 cm past my hands or so before the feet hit the ground, which should suggest that I can be able to do it once i figure out when to start lifting the legs up by enganging the hip flexors. Anywhoo, after ten tries or so I was tired of the crashing and went back to the juming through with bent legs. And to my surprise, I went throug much smoother than usual, felt kind of "higher up" from the ground, and I became aware of the fact that I was engaging mula bandha in a more concious manner after the experiments with the straight legs. Don't know if this experiment might do the same for others, but thought I should put it out there! :-) |
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Location: London, England | Hi there,
Here's a quote from Stuart Mcgill's book 'Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.'
"Stand on a bathroom scale and hold out the arms in an Iron Cross posture while pushing down on supporting objects. Measure how much of your body weight is supported off the scale. Then co-contract the abdominals...Some individuals will see a 30% increase in the amount of weight they can lift off the scale."
Much of the book is about this co-contraction of the abdominal and other core muscles. For instance:
"Muscular Binding and Weaving.
When all muscles at a joint stiffen together a "super stiffness" phenomenom generally occurs. The total stiffness at a joint suddnely becomes more than the sum of individual muscle stiffnesses. Consider the abdominal walll in creating "core stability." The three layers of the abdominal wall have fibres that run in different directions. This architecture is similiar to that of plywood where one layer has the wood grain running north and south while the next layer runs east and west. The layers are bound by glue forming a composite material. The properties and features of similarly constructed composites includew light weight and stiffness. Rectus abdominus, external and internal oblique and tranverse abdominus form a composite when activated together. They appear to bind together when all are active to create a super stiffness that is higher than the sum of each individual muscle."
He goes on to say that activating just one muscle will actually be pathological-so it is worrying to see so many yoga instructors recommending pulling the tummy button in, for example.
Try the exercise on the bathroom scales and then you can easily determine for yourself what a bandha is  Well, maybe not easily
Nick |
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Veteran
Posts: 113
Location: Uppsala, Sweden | A good (strength building) bandha engaging posture is Utpluthi (aka Tolasana, the Scale posture); hold it for as long as you can, then (while heavilyy breathing) do Mangala Mantra and finally Shavasana (which will be even more nice when you're exhausted).
Now, for a beginner it is often not possible or recommended to sit in padmasana, which the full posture requires. That is however not important (to achieve; all in good time...), and Utpluthi (or, in the case of most beginner's, rather Lollasana) will still be a very effective posture to do every day. A good description of Lollasana can be found on page 70 in Gregor Maehle's book "Ashtanga Yoga: Practice & Philosophy" (2006).
If you are annoyed by your feet and sit bones not lifting off from the floor (as they should of course; lest your arms are midget size, your ass is way to big and heavy, your abdominal muscles too weak and your spine very inflexible), you can try the posture in a good strong armchair, on the edge of a bench, or maybe even better in the bath tub where it's easier to also try the swinging back and forth. This will give you a good sense of what the jumping through feels like and requires, i.e. ape size arms, tiny ass, six-pack abs, and shortening the mid section... or in other words: good strong bandhas. |
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it's all about the bandhas...
