Mula Bandha


Mūla Bandha is a primary Bandha in traditional yoga.

Etymology

Mula Bandha is from Mūla, meaning variously root, base, beginning, foundation, origin or cause; and Bandha meaning bond, fetter, or "catching hold of".
Iyengar defines Mūla Bandha as "A posture where the body from the anus to the navel is contracted and lifted up and towards the spine." This is qualified in that the actual muscle contracted is not the sphincter muscle nor the muscle which cessates urination, but the muscle equidistant between the two.
Maehle defines it as "root lock" and further specifies that:

Bandha

Mūla Bandha is a primary Bandha in traditional yoga. Mūla Bandha is essential to all safe, grounded workings of bodymind disciplines. This Bandha in and of itself conditions the Muladhara Chakra, simultaneously keening, rooting and engaging the systemic :wikt:plethora|plethora of processes that constitute bodymind and with diligence resolving them in discipline and accord. Mūla Bandha should be held as a restraint only after kumbhaka, which in this instance is where the breath is expressed in its entirety and held outside the body. Iyengar likens the functionality of the Bandha and especially Mūla Bandha to "safety-valves which should be kept shut during the practice of kumbhakas".
Iyengar specifies the energetic prāṇas of Vāyus engaged through Mūla Bandha as: "...Apāna Vāyu, whose course is downwards, is made to flow up to unite with Prāna Vāyu, which has its seat within the region of the chest." He cautions that "Mūla Bandha should be attempted first in antara kumbhaka. The region of the lower abdomen between the navel and the anus is contracted towards the spine and pulled up to the diaphragm. He further states that "While practicing Mūla Bandha, the yogi attempts to reach the true source or mūla of creation."