Ace-Yoga

Yoga: Try our warming yoga techniques and bandhas

Ignite your inner flame and burn brightly through the chilly days with warming yoga, says expert teacher Sue Fuller

Ignite your inner flame and burn brightly through the chilly days with warming yoga, says expert teacher Sue Fuller
Yoga techniques naturally warm and heat the body.

For more than 3,000 years yogis have been using these ancient techniques to increase tapas (not Spanish food, but internal warmth) and maintain and ignite an internal fire known as agni. This inner warmth and fire has the ability to remove toxins and impurities from both the body and mind, producing a strong and healthy body free from tension and ailments, and a clear and focused mind. By working with the body’s own heat, eventually the ancient yogis were able to enjoy physical and emotional balance and a clear vision of their connection with the universe. Using these warming practices would also help the yogis advance spiritually by removing impurities, ignorance and illusion.

So instead of reaching for a hot chocolate and snuggling up next to a heater to keep warm this winter, why don’t you try a few warming yoga techniques?

For fire to ignite, you need air in the form of breath (pranayamas), and to keep the fire steady and in control, the breath should remain consistent. The inhalation and exhalation will direct the internal fire so equal force and equal length must be applied to each. To help intensify and control the heat, use internal and external breath retentions (khumbhaka) along with bandhas (energy locks or seals).

Bandhas are crucial for maintaining and utilising tapas (warmth) and agni (fire). You can use bandhas to lock tapas and agni inside the body, allowing extra heat to generate accelerating the body’s detoxifying and purification processes.

Bandhas are not musclular contractions, they are designed to lock and connect internal systems however, when you are locating the bandhas and learning how to activate them it is ideal to start by focusing on the muscles that engage when each bandha is activated.

For a warming yoga practice try the following upon waking

Kapalabhati: frontal cleansing breath

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight. Inhale deeply through the nose. Use a short sharp contraction of the diaphragm to push some of the air out through your nose. Now allow a little more air to enter the lungs through the nose before pushing it out again using the short sharp contraction of the diaphragm. Continue breathing like this. You should sound similar to a steam train. Begin with a cycle of twenty breaths. This can be increased up to a hundred breaths. At the end of each cycle take one complete inhalation followed by a complete exhalation. Then inhale and retain the breath for a comfortable length of time whilst activating mula bandha. Slowly release the breath and repeat the whole technique for three complete cycle. It’s important you remain strong through mula bandha and uddiyana when you perform the following two pranayamas.

Breath for life (A)

Begin sitting in sukhasana (the easy pose) with the ankles crossed and a straight spine. Bend elbows and position them against your lower ribs. Lightly clench the fists and turn the palms up. Inhale and reach the right arm forward in front of your sternum, open your hand and turn the palm down. The exhalation is performed with a short sharp contraction of the diaphragm and as you do this return to your starting position. Repeat on the other side. Start slowly and gradually get quicker and quicker. Continue for two minutes.

Breath for life (B)

From sukhasana lift the arms out level with the

shoulders. Breathe in and lift the right arm while lowering the left arm. Make sure that the arms move in one piece. As you exhale lift the left arm and lower the right. Again start slowly and gradually speed up. Continue this technique for approximately two minutes.

Rest in sukhasana with the eyes lightly closed breathing slowly in and out through the nose.

Surya Namaskar A

This sun salutation is performed as a part of the Ashtanga primary series to help warm the body and generate internal heat.

Begin standing at the top end of your yoga mat with your hands in a prayer position in front of your chest, inhale and lift the arms up above your head. Exhale and fold forwards placing both hands onto your mat, palms down (bend your knees if you need to so that the whole of your palm is in contact with the floor).
Inhale as you look forwards and soften the knees whilst drawing up the pelvic floor and core muscles. Retain your breath as you jump back to a high push up. Exhale as you bend the elbows to a low push up (chaturanga).
Inhale lifting the chest and head to upward facing dog. Exhale lifting your hips to create a triangular shape with your body and the floor (downward facing dog).
Hold downward facing dog for five complete breaths, whilst activating mula bandha and uddiyana bandha. At the tail end of the last exhalation soften the knees and continue to activate mula bandha and uddiyana bandha (preparing to jump the feet forwards).
Inhale as you jump the feet behind the hands, landing with the knees slightly bent looking to the hands. Exhale and fold into a deep standing forward bend with the legs straight.
Inhale and uncurl bringing the hands to a prayer position above your head. Exhale and bend the elbows slowly lowering the hands and arms in front of the body finishing with the hands in prayer position in front of your chest. Repeat five times.

Your breath keeps the fire steady and in control

Warming bandhas

Practise these bandhas to warm the body and soul

Mula Bandha: the root lock

A simple and basic way to begin to activate the root lock is to draw up the pelvic floor muscles. By practising this eventually it is possible to locate the lock and activate only mula bandha. Its true location is the cervix for a woman and the perineum for a man.

Uddiyana Bandha: the abdominal lock

Once Mula Bandha has been activated continue to draw up the internal muscles, then the core muscles and finally pull your navel back towards your spine.

Jalandhara Bandha: the throat lock

To perform the throat lock the breath must be retained, the tip of the tongue is rolled to the roof of the mouth and the chin is then dropped onto the chest. Always release the lock before you release the breath.

Maha bandha: the great lock

The great lock is when all three bandhas are performed simultaneously in the following order on a internal breath retention, mula bandha, uddiyana bandha and then jalandhara. Release in reverse order.

For more information visit wellbeingworldonline.com

Article by

Sue Fuller

Yoga Teacher

Sue Fuller is a leading yoga teacher, writer and co-founder of wellbeingworldonline.com A leading yoga teacher for over 15 years, Sue trained with the Sivananda organisation in Neyyar Dam, India...

Discover more

Article by

Sue Fuller

Yoga Teacher

Sue Fuller is a leading yoga teacher, writer and co-founder of wellbeingworldonline.com A leading yoga teacher for over 15 years, Sue trained with the Sivananda organisation in Neyyar Dam, India...

Discover more