I’m on lesson 55 and the “At the same time, while we do this, we lightly flex and pull up above the flexed anal sphincter, through the pelvis, and into our lower belly.” is kinda confusing me. Am I supposed to contract perineum + contract lower abdominal muscles up and inwards or just contracting perineum is enough?
Hi Neo1,
This is a fuller quote from that lesson:
With mulabandha, we sit in pranayama like we always do. As we do, we lightly flex our anal sphincter muscle and hold it. That is, lightly. It is barely beyond the intention into the physical sensation. What we want to do is develop the habit of holding this light flex of the anal sphincter throughout our pranayama session. At the same time, while we do this, we lightly flex and pull up above the flexed anal sphincter, through the pelvis, and into our lower belly. There will be little physical movement, just a little beyond the intention, just enough to create a physical habit with.
So, it is a light contraction of the anal sphincter muscle and the muscles above that going up through the pelvis into the lower belly. It is not a contraction of the lower abdominal muscles, as that is uddiyana bandha which is a different lock.
If you find that you cannot contract the muscles above the anal sphincter muscle, because you are not able to isolate them consciously, then simply lightly contracting the anal sphincter muscle is fine. As the prana begins to rise, those other muscles will automatically be brought into play.
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Hi Tristan,
Thank you for clarifying this, one final question, is pulling in the belly for fitting into a tight jeans a good cue for the muscle above perineum going up into the lower belly?
Hi Neo1,
I would say, no. When we are trying to put on a tight pair of jeans, we are pulling the belly in. So, that is the contraction of the lower abdominal muscles. With mulabandha, the muscles used are in the middle of the pelvis.
Have a go at tightening all the muscles in the centre of your pelvis and see how it feels. These are all muscles that do not affect what your belly does. If you find that you can squeeze everything in there and then relase it, then that will give you an idea of what muscles are involved.
If you find that you cannot squeeze any muscles inside the pelvis above the anal sphincter, then as I mentioned above, do not worry about it. Mulabandha practiced only by contracting the anal sphincter muscle is an absolutely fine practice, and will work very effectively.
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I think it’s useful to point out that mulabandha is defined differently in different yoga teachings. A book called Moola Bandha by Swami Buddhananda defines mulabandha is the lifting of the perineum, without involving the anal sphincter or the pulling up of the urinary tract. Those two are called, respectively, ashwini mudra and vajroli mudra.
In contrast, in the book Asanas, Mudras and Bandhas, Yogani writes
Stated most simply, mulabandha is a gentle squeezing of the anal sphincter muscle. Just an easy flex and hold. Along with that we do a gentle lift of the pelvic floor from the perineum up through the pelvic region. It begins in the anus and perineum (root), and reaches up through the pelvis. A slight contraction of the lower abdomen will occur with the lift up through the pelvis from the root.
To me, it sounds like that AYP’s mulabandha combines all three bandhas into a single one. This is probably because it is easier to learn that way, and also because it probably is not so crucial to develop the ability isolate the perineum because the body’s intelligence will refine these details in the long run when developing the whole body mudra.
I personally, think that the last sentence in the above quote, about the slight contraction of the lower abdomen, is also useful when first learning mulabandha, because it increases the felt sense of the overall compression in the lower part of the torso, and of the locking in of the energy.
Doing this slight contraction of the lower abdomen in conjunction with mulabhanda was also what I learned in a Buddhist tantra course (“12-fold lower belly breathing”) before discovering AYP, and so it felt very natural for me to keep that slight contraction of the lower abdomen. Slightly pulling the lower abdomen, the part directly above the pubic bone, towards the spine, allows the exhalation to feel very complete when doing yogic breathing. The action of contracting the lower belly that way feels entirely different from Uddiyana bandha and Navi kriya.
I see now that Yogani likely meant that the contraction of the lower belly is an effect of mulabandha rather than an additional deliberate action.
I would be curious to hear Yogani’s opinion on whether a deliberate contraction of the lower belly is an acceptable form of mulabandha or not.
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Hi All,
Like with many of the AYP practices, mulabandha practice is determined by its effects, and effects are determined by the presence of abiding inner silence. So, like with everything in AYP, deep meditation is the foundation for mulabandha. I mention this because in some systems mulabandha is considered to be foundational, which is saying that kundalini is foundational. Obviously not the case in AYP. But kundalini certainly has an important role to play when the time is right, which is when abiding inner silence is well established, and ready to move.
That is how mulabandha came to me many years ago, first with a gentle flexing of the anal sphincter, with an immediate energetic effect of ecstatic energy rising, which led to a natural lifting from the perineum up into the lower abdomen, and beyond. So yes, lift above the the initial flex is effect, and then adding to cause. It also ties in energetically with sambhavi at the brow, leading to the energetic subtleties of “whole body mudra.” This is why mulabandha and sambhavi are covered one right after the other in the original lessons, because there is that connection of ecstatic conductivity. So the whole thing is less about “procedure” than following stillness when it is ready to move. Before that, the procedures are just procedures. If ecstatic conductivity is not occurring, then it may be premature to be undertaking mudras and bandhas. It is for you to decide based on your experience. The causes and effects of practices occur in their own time, and we will know it when we see it in our experience. Deep meditation and the rise of abiding inner silence drive everything that follows. And it is wonderful!
The guru is in you.
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Hi Yogani,
Thank you for clarifying this.
There is, however, one statement in your above post that makes me wonder if I misunderstood something important.
In your above post you wrote:
If ecstatic conductivity is not occurring, then it may be premature to be undertaking mudras and bandhas.
Which seems to be a much more conservative strategy for adding mudras and bandhas than suggested in Asanas, Mudras and Bandhas:
mulabandha, and all the mudras and bandhas […] start out pretty strange and awkward, and over time become graceful and ecstatic.
If we are doing mudras and bandhas as part of our regular daily practice routine, this promotes the development of rising inner connectivity and ecstatic conductivity.
So, would you recommend to AYP practitioners to wait, as a default, with mudras and bandhas till after the rise of ecstatic conductivity? My understanding was that with a well-established stable twice-daily practice of Deep Meditation and Spinal Breathing Pranayama in place, it is recommended (rather than maybe premature) to add mulabandha and sambhavi mudra to Spinal Breathing Pranayama to promote the rise of ecstatic conductivity. Of course, these should be added not at the same time and with prudent self-pacing.
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Hi TensorTympani,
I do not intend to discourage anyone from taking on practices they feel they are ready for. But there is also the cause and effect aspect that should be taken into consideration by each practitioner. One thing that may have been less obvious in the early days of AYP is that there are some who want to take it all on as soon as possible, believing that the more practices that are taken on, the faster one will move ahead on the spiritual path. It does not work like that, and I think many who have been around AYP for a while are well aware of that. Newcomers maybe not so much. We each have to find out for ourselves what will bring results, and what might be premature for us.
One thing we’d like to avoid is practitioners pressing ahead with energy practices before there is enough abiding inner silence to weather whatever kundalini experiences may arise. That has always been a central theme in the lessons. There are no taboos here. Just to be aware of the sequencing and rate of taking on practices. You will know when the time is right and how each practice fits in according to your experience.
There is also the option to skip energy practices for a while and move to samyama, which cultivates abiding inner silence outward into our daily life. It also can help with an effective and safe entry into energy practices when ecstatic conductivity is beginning to appear. There is an AYP Plus lesson addition on that here, and quoted below.
Regarding the procedure of mulabandha, the way I described it in the previous post as a natural evolution of ecstatic energy is preferred, with the mudra following the energy, rather than the other way around. Not that the energy cannot be awakened with the mechanics of mulabandha alone. It certainly can, but this may have a less predictable progression. It is like that with approaching other powerful energy practices, and the crown, where we’d like to promote a natural awakening rather than a forced one.
All the best, practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
Addition 55.2 - Transcendence or Energy Practices? Considering an Alternate Path (Audio)
Jan 19, 2018Q: I am writing to you because I am not sure how fast I should add up techniques. I have started to practice AYP 2-1/2 years ago. My daily routine consists of asanas, spinal breathing pranayama and deep meditation. I only have one session per day though. It feels great. I really enjoy my daily practices, and so far I had a very smooth travel, many symptoms but nothing spectacular. Noteworthy are some blissful inner sounds during practice, and increased witnessing during the usual ups and downs of daily life.
The routine of practice I have now is good, that is to say reassuring and comfortable. Life is good. If I listen to myself, I would not change anything, because it just feels great. It’s beautiful. On the other hand, I thought maybe I should be a little bit more adventurous in order to evolve into new experiences. But as you always talk about self pacing, I am not sure what I should do.
I remember you saying that one could keep a very basic routine for years with steady progress, because the spiritual journey is not a sprint, but more like a marathon. I am not looking for roller coaster energy sensations, I want to have a normal life with spiritual progress and be able to do normal things, without being bothered. So I ask, how often is it safe to add techniques in order to guarantee smooth travel in the long run? And do I have to add up the techniques in the same order as you wrote them in the lessons, or can I just pick any of them as I don’t have any side practices apart from AYP?
Thank you in advance for your advice.
A: Happy to hear things are going well on your path. You have found a good balance between ongoing practice and your daily activity, and this is the most important thing for steady progress.
Regarding taking on more practices, you don’t have to if your don’t want to. You can carry on with the current routine as long as you like. If and when you decide to take on more practice, it is recommended to take them on one at a time, allowing at least a few months for assimilation to make sure you are not building overload behind the scenes. Energy practices especially (mudras, bandhas, kumbhaka) can have a delayed reaction, so best to be conservative in taking those on, taking your time, and be prepared to self-pace as needed.
For the order of taking on practices, deep meditation, spinal breathing pranayama, and asanas is the order for establishing a basic routine, and it is suggested not to leave any of those out before moving on, whenever that may be. The routine you have is good, and you can build on it whenever you like according to your preference. If practicing once per day works best for your schedule and capacity, then that is good also.
Beyond the basic routine, there is a choice on whether to go for the energy practices as presented in order in the lessons, beginning with mulabandha in the above Lesson 55, or one can skip to samyama instead, from Lesson 149 onward. Adding mudras and bandhas to the routine may involve more ups and downs with direct stimulation of the inner energies, and is best done when the witness of abiding inner silence is stable enough to weather any possible energy storms. For those with the witness and eager to move ahead with potentially challenging energy experiences occurring, going through the lessons in order may be preferred, allowing adequate time for cultivation and stabilization of abiding inner silence (witness) before moving into energy practices.
Where you go from here depends on your personal preference. Once doing doing core samyama practice (Lesson 150), and preferring to expand on that rather than going into energy practices, there is the option for a daily session of cosmic samyama (Lesson 299), adding the self-inquiry sutra to the core samyama routine (Lesson 351), and moving more into self-inquiry, karma yoga, etc., according to preference. These are covered in the later lessons, but are applicable to anyone wishing to focus on the integration of abiding inner silence in daily activity. Energy practices can be added at any time according to personal need to ramp up the inner energies. Even without the energy practices, asanas, spinal breathing pranayama, deep meditation and samyama will bring up ecstatic energy in due time. Abiding inner silence and ecstatic awakening (kundalini) are two sides of the same coin, and enlightenment will involve both merging together. Kundalini awakening in correct sequence in relation to the rise of abiding inner silence is, in fact, abiding inner silence radiating outward through the subtle neurobiology into the environment, leading to unity.
Following a course with more focus on moving transcendence into activity with samyama and related practices is a legitimate approach if one is less inclined to pursue ecstatic conductivity (kundalini) awakening by the direct means of energy practices. Or one can go for the energy practices if that is the preference, which is more in the sequence of the lessons. Usually, a mixture of energy and samyama (applied stillness) related practices will evolve naturally over time according to individual preference. “Listening to yourself” is a wise course. You will know what to do. Whichever path through the lessons you take, the awakening of ecstatic conductivity will happen and merge with abiding inner silence in due course.
Whichever way you go, make sure to observe the suggestions in the first paragraph of this lesson addition, taking on practices one at a time and allowing plenty of time for assimilation. Rome was not built in a day.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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