Unlocking The Power of Bandhas In Ashtanga Yoga!

Have you ever heard ‘the real yoga is what you cannot see’?

One of part of what we ‘cannot see’ is the quality of the bandha / breath technique. In this video I will lead you through a short practice that focuses identifying mūla and uddīyāna bandhas and then learning to keep them while maintaining ujjayi breathing.

I remember learning some of these around 1996 when I took a weekend workshop with Richard Freeman. At the time, it pretty much went right over my head, I couldn’t maintain the bandhas AND breath well. So I tried the techniques every day for about a year and eventually I felt ‘ok, I’m getting this’. Then maybe 3 years later I felt ‘oh, now I’m getting the bandha/breath’ 😂 Just to say, it’s a forever practice!

Tuning in to the ever more subtle is an aid to the overall aspiration of yoga according to the Yoga Sutra 1.3 : Then the Seer abides in his own essential nature.

We use the physical asanas as techniques to go deeper into the subtle. For instance there are several stages of Samadhi…the lower levels have to do with ‘gross’ objects and as we move deeper the objects of concentration become more and more imperceptible.

Of course, we love our yoga asana, making shapes, challenging ourselves, using them to keep our bodies strong, supple and healthy…however, if we wish to delve deep into yoga, then we also need to keep in mind the subtle 😊

Take some time to be quiet and try these exercises and you’ll see the more you improve what we ‘cannot see’, the more you will feel a sense of deep inner strength and peace ☮️

If you get bored, may I suggest you tell yourself to ‘stay until the mind let’s go of the idea of boredom’?

00:00 Simulating Samasthiti to try and FEEL the Bandhas
06:46 Engaging the Bandhas in a sitting position
09:43 Practicing breathing smoothly
13:35 Applying those techniques to the Asana practice!

You can find me on Instagram:   / linda.munro.yoga  
Or even meet me in a yoga class! www.ashtangayogaparis.fr

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