Come fly with me .......

In my last blogg I mentioned the bandhas and how they are described as energy awarenesses with physical locations in the body. We discussed Mula Bandha the root energy awareness. And from our root we are able to grow......... This is where Mula's sister/brother Bandha comes in - Uddiyana Bandha. Uddiyana translates as "upward flying".

When we apply Uddiyana bandha, physically we feel internal strength and energetically we experience lightness (or a feeling of lift within).

The light feeling of flight was a mystery to me when I first began Ashtanga yoga as I was practising without the awareness of bandhas so rather than flying and feeling light, my practice had a heavy feeling (rather like an elephant). Not to say that I don't still have my heavy elephant moments.

I have them all the time and in fact they are good and help us to become more body aware!

As we practice with the use of the bandhas our internal strength develops and our moments of lightness or flight become more frequent.

So how do we apply Uddiyana bandha in our practice?

It is the feeling of gently drawing the lower abdominal muscles a little in and up. I liken this to trying on a pair of tight jeans and the action of drawing in and up to do the zip up.

Uddiyana is most easy to experience towards the end of an outbreath. With practice, once we can feel this drawing in and up on the outbreath we can then begin to practice and apply the bandha during an in breath also. A feeling of keeping the lower abdomen still as we breath freely.
Uddiyana bandha works closely with Mula bandha. Mula providing our root and grounding energy and Uddiyana our lifting, expanding, flying, reaching energy. Working as opposites to provide a balance.

I used to think that putting 'locks' on in the body sounded a bit harsh but in fact when we find this internal strength within we are actually unlocking the body to be stronger, more open and to allow energy to flow freely.

So Uddiyana and Mula bandha are the key to the lightness and internal strength we see in the practice.

The following pictures taken on my recent teacher training course with John and Lucy Scott show me practising Uddiyana Bandha and Mula Bandha whilst moving from a seated forward bend into handstand and back to a seated forward bend ...... with some nurting help from John Scott.

And now check out John Scott flying with strength and grace (blindfolded) during a demonstration in Oslo.

The clip is about 8 minutes and is beautiful to watch. Best to view without sound as the sound quality on this clip is a little distorted and out of sync.

As with Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha can be practised any time of the day and will help develop strength within and provide protection for our lower back. Pattaboi Jois is famous for saying 99% practice, 1% theory, so let's gently practice the bandhas when our awareness allows.

Next time ...... lifting our beautiful hearts

Come and visit my Wednesday evening led Ashtanga class - Wednesday evenings, 8.00 to 9.30 p.m. St Mark's Church Hall, Westmoreland Rd, BR2 and my Self practice class Sunday mornings 9.00 to 10.30 a.m. at The Yoga Barn, Keston. deenalmann@aol.com for more details