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?
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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?