Guest guest Posted January 27, 2001 Report Share Posted January 27, 2001 Please help provide some clarification on the practice of mula bandha and the problem of abdominal inhibition. I recently read Stephen Cope's remarks about abdominal inhibition, and it seems as though the practice of mula bandha would lead to this. He refers to abdominal inhibition on page 225 of his book "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self," and writes: "By tightening the pelvic muscles between the pubic bone and the coccyx, it puts immense pressure on all of the muscles and organs..." He goes on to say that as result of this "process, blood flow to the pelvis is inhibited, with the result that life force, sexuality, and a sense of 'core strength' is in the center of the body are all diminished." Doesn't tightening of the pelvic muscles occur in the practice of mula bandha? Is this a philosophic disagreement between Kripalu yoga and ashtanga? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 27, 2001 Report Share Posted January 27, 2001 Well, here's one idea on that. He may be talking about chronic tension (permanent subconcious tension). When we practice conscious contraction of a muscle or muscle group (especially tighten and release, tighten and release), this can actually help to get in touch with and relax chronic tension. The practice of mula bandha should help to gain control over muscles which we<br>may have no control or awareness of and which may be chronically tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 28, 2001 Report Share Posted January 28, 2001 Well I'm no expert, really just a beginner myself. You may want to get ahold of the book Moola Bandha - The Master Key, an excellent book which covers the subject in GREAT detail. You can get it from Amazon:<br><a href=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/8185787328/ target=new>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/8185787328/</a><br>It seems like I read somewhere that laying down is not the best position to work on this, but I found that when laying in Savasana at the end of a class I was able to pay a lot of attention to working on mula bandha. I think for some people it can take a lot longer than for others to start getting in touch with these muscles. There's a lot going on down there. Have a look at an anatomy atlas. I checked out the page in Cope's book. I'm pretty sure he is talking about a pattern of chronic tension. Chronic tension in any muscle is a drain on the body's energy. Chronic tension in muscles of the pelvic floor can lead to problems such as hemorrhoids and anal fissures. One cause of tension there is related to toilet training in childhood. I'm not sure if there is a difference between "contracting" and "tightening". His words there were not in the context of discussing the practice of mula bandha. Anway, I really recommend the Moola Bandha book. Swenson and many other Ashtanga teachers will recommend it also. In fact you can also order the book from Swenson. I read Cope's book a year or so ago and greatly enjoyed it. I wouldn't say that it is any kind of a technical guide for asana practice, though. I also doubt that there is really any great discrepancy between Kripalu yoga and Ashtanga yoga on this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 28, 2001 Report Share Posted January 28, 2001 T.L. thanks for your remarks. I will get a copy of Moola Bandha - The Master Key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.