Bandha in Pranayama

Today's discussion will be an elaboration on the topic of bandha and its activity in pranayama.

A saying from the Hatha Yoga tradition goes:

"There can be no pranayama without kumbhaka, and there can be no kumbhaka without bandha."

This statement is enough to have the serious yogi wondering -- what is the importance of kumbhaka and bandha?

We'll start here and see where this goes.

As usual, I appreciate writing for the fact that it allows me to "think out loud" on these topics. Having spent 11 years studying traditional Hatha Yoga -- after an auspicious encounter with a great Hatha yogi who became my mentor and teacher -- I feel like I am starting to understand some things about these activities. Still, these are thoughts and, to some degree, opinions. You must take what I say with a grain of salt and apply your own experiments to come up with your own conclusions on the matter.

The question I like to begin with is this: well, what is prana?

The prana is seen as the ubiquitous "life-force". There are sub-categories of prana, depending on its form and function, but for the sake of our discussion we can generalize this by asserting thus:

The prana shakti is the life-force energy in embodiment, whereas the Shakti (capital S), is this ubiquitous life-force in it's universal form.

I like to think about this concept of life-force and energy in terms of physics.

Potential energy is the form of energy when it is motionless, whereas kinetic energy is the form, or expression, of energy when it is in motion. Think of a coiled spring. When that spring has been compressed, there is a storage of potential energy waiting to be released (the uncoiling of the spring). If and when that spring is released from compression, the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.

The same concept applies in the human body. All of us carry within ourselves a potential energy. This is energy waiting to be released, and set into motion. When it is released, there is a subsequent action -- or series of actions -- which sets into motion various effects. The law of karma is relevant here, where karma is the mechanism of cause-and-effect in the Universe.

When we accrue "good" karmas, we have converted potential energy into kinetic energy in a way that might be favorable or beneficial to us and those around us. If we accrue "bad" karmas, we must deal with the repercussions of potential energy that has been mobilized in a direction that may be less than favorable. You with me so far?

If the Universe is indeed a giant system of give and take, where molecules are bouncing off of one another in a perpetual cycle of evolution, then where/ how we in this great process may be something of interest to the yogi. We're thinking about this in terms of physics, no?

Now, in terms of these energetic levels of our being, we can look at our neuro-physiology and the patterns which we have created to make up our persona. Basically, the life we are living right now, is the result of all the past "potential energies" that have coagulated to form the kinetic energy of our life, today. Things are in motion. We are riding the waves. Sometimes this can be 'good', sometimes 'bad'. However, if we can examine everything in our lives from this standpoint, then we can observe the effects can be traced to prior causes. We begin to see that our lives are the result of karma and energy.

If energy cannot be created or destroyed -- and it can only change forms -- then transformation is the process of modifying the course of energy. Right?

Tapas, the word in Sanskrit that refers to "the heat generated through effort", comes to mind here. When we adjust the course of energy, there is oftentimes a friction that comes with this adjustment. We have to apply some amount of energy, or force, or effort, to effect the trajectory that has been set in motion. When we do this effectively, we change the trajectory. Imagine if a ship was sailing for a destination and a large object collided with the ship. If the colliding object possesses enough mass (potential energy) and velocity (kinetic energy), it will change the course of the ship. If the object does not have a sufficient amount of these energies, nothing will happen. The ship will carry on towards the destination unimpeded.

Life can be like this analogy. We are a ship in motion, headed for our destination. Various karmas from our past are playing out in the present moment. Some of them have yet to fructify. Yet, here we are, catapulting through life, carried on the momentum of our past actions and the actions of our ancestors. There is a lot of kinetic energy at play here. This does not mean that there is no potential energy -- it's just that much of our potential is bound up in the actions that are playing out already. We are a ship headed for a destination, whether we like it or not. Sometimes we don't even know or understand the destination, but nonetheless, we are en route.

Becoming aware of our destiny is something that I think the yoga path reveals to us. As we awaken, we awaken to the potential stored inside of us. Authentic spiritual practice is meant to strip back the layers of falsehood and wake us up to the true nature of our being. Practically speaking, this means un-doing the knots of karma that have us moving in a direction that may not be intentional. We may not be able to avoid the effects of prior causation, but we can avoid causing an effect that is undesirable. This means paying attention to the ripples that we are making in this ocean of life; observing how energy creates, governs and eventually destroys everything that we know and experience.

In other words, becoming aware of the Shakti -- the primordial life-force that feeds and sustains everything.

Yogic wisdom asserts that life is bound in this eternal cycle. Governed by the laws of karma, Shakti takes form for a time, does Her dance, before returning back to the formlessness. Kinetic energy eventually runs out of steam and returns to a potential state, until acted upon once again.

When we're talking about bandhas, we're talking about the direct manipulation of energy within our system. When we engage in sādhana, we are directing a kinetic effect internally. As we progress through the various stages of yoga, eventually the kinetic energy and outward flowing life-force is withdrawn centrally, where we can become aware of the potential state inside. A vibrant, dynamic force is there, waiting to expand into the world. However, if a relationship to these dynamics of energy has not been established, this energy might simply continue to play out in the various ways in which it has been designed; this is an intelligent process. The Universe is unfolding precisely as it has been designed, which means each aspect of our lives is unfolding with this precision.

As the yogi builds their relationship to these cosmic principles, the universal patterns of life begin to reveal themselves. The mechanism of karma may no longer remain a spiritual concept but rather becomes something that has direct and practical sense.

At this stage in the journey the yogi applies the tools that they have received to begin to sever the karmic ties which bind one to the world of form. We begin to free ourselves from the kinetic chains. This requires tapas. Our effort to free ourselves is the friction which incinerates the bondage. When we turn away from the habitual pattern, we have banged an object against the trajectory. If we do this enough times, energy builds up and even small acts of "turning away" create the eventual shift that is needed to arrive at an entirely different destination.

Bandha, then, is the internal mechanism in which we apply muscular effort to manipulate and channel the various flows of energy inside of our body. Bandha will withdrawal and centralize prana at different points in the body. We have the three primary bandhas from Hatha Yoga -- the root, the midsection, and the neck -- which lead to the great tie known as maha bandha. To advance in Hatha Yoga and thus Raja Yoga, it is advised that one takes note of these bandhas and their progression.

As we began in our discussion, pranayama is incomplete without kumbhaka and bandha. In fact, as it is said, we cannot experience kumbhaka without bandha, and therefore no pranayama is possible. Why?

If pranayama refers to the restraint and regulation of the life-force, this is something that requires more than just the manipulation of breathing. We have to learn how the body responds to the respiratory process, and develop our internal sensitivity of the valve system which opens and closes the channels of energy which ride on the breath. We can breathe all the want, and perhaps there are therapeutic benefits to this, but for the spiritual benefits and inner alchemy, we have to refine our attention of the subtle energetics of these processes.

Bandha is not something you can force your way into. As soon as we over-tense, energy flow is constricted. Pranayama -- which arises through the correct application of bandha & kumbhaka -- comes as the result of relaxed, refined and precise effort. The breath deepens as the internal responsiveness to the breath increases. We don't force in more air -- we create space internally for the energy behind the air to circulate. This is why the first limb of Yoga is ahimsa -- non-violence. This is not a process of pushing.

So, gradually and patiently, one develops their awareness of these principles IN ACTION, and begins to adjust the trajectory of the energy flows. Sensitivity grows -- awareness of our sense perceptions -- and our awareness is drawn inward to become centralized in a position of maximum potential energy. The various kinetic flows have been harnessed together and directed towards a single, unified point. This brings us to the threshold of meditation. When true meditation is reached, one becomes completely absorbed internally and the out-flows of even the most subtle thought forms are withdrawn into the Center.

Thus, the path of Yoga is one comprised of the theoretical framework to understand what's taking place, but then this theoretical framework is put into practice and experienced by the practitioner. Sādhana is the spiritual laboratory where these ideas can be investigated, studied, and eventually lived.

Happy practicing, yogis.

Grant & BYA