Jalandhara Bandha, Enjoying Vacation and Gloria Steinem

Jalandhara bandha is on top of mula bandha and uddiyana bandha that I taught the last two weeks.

When I teach this practice, I split it into three phases, with each phase having three steps:

1. The Outer Head

   1. Skull Pushes Up. Imagine that the ceiling is just an inch above the crown of your head and push up. The muscles being used for this motion are the ones that need strengthening. Alternatively, you can imagine a string pulling your skull upwards, lifting it away from the rest of the body.

   2. Chin Drops. Your chin should lower until it becomes parallel to the horizon. If it feels like you’re giving yourself a double chin, look at yourself in the mirror. You might be surprised to find that it looks more normal than you imagined.

   3. Back of Neck Lengthens. Place your hand on the back of your neck, near and around the base of your skull. That area — the entire cervical vertebra — should be almost entirely flat.

2. The Face

   1. Ears Draw Back. All animals (including you) have the ability to move their ears. For humans, though, that muscle has often atrophied due to lack of use. If you’re confused how to do this, the other two steps should help.

   2. Lips Turn Up. Nearly every depiction of the Buddha or Christ shows serenity on their face, corresponding with a very gentle smile. Not a huge smile: a gentle smile. Frowning requires tension in the face. Subtle smiling requires none.

   3. Eyebrows Separate. Aka un-furrow your eyes. Here it helps to first lift your eyebrows (as though surprised) and then see if you can keep the openness while learning to drop the eyebrows back to their original position.

3. The Inner Head

   1. Tongue Plasters. Imagine you were saying the words tongue, mango or going. The ‘ng’ motion of the tongue (wherein it mounts itself to the roof of the mouth) is where your tongue should be. This, in turn, should open your throat.

   2. Tongue Floats. In the resting position, the tip of your tongue should be floating inside your mouth.

   3. Teeth Apart. Your top and bottom set of teeth should be very slightly separate from one another.