10 Things to Know Before Practicing Yoga Bandhas
Expert insights and safety guidelines for a rewarding bandha practice.
By PRANA EDITORS | Last Updated: March 3, 2025
First read: A Beginner’s Guide to Yogic Internal Locks
“Modern yoga’s overemphasis on poses often eclipses meaningful discussions of subtler practices like bandhas and mudras,” notes Geert Meijer, an Iyengar Yoga instructor. “And, despite being fundamental to spiritual growth in every yoga lineage, they remain both misunderstood and underutilized.”
Prana Sutra’s Yoga Bandha Series offers in-depth guides to help you master the four internal energy locks used in yoga. But before attempting these techniques, it’s important to cover some basics – like when to start practicing bandhas, the traditional sequence for learning them, and a few crucial do’s and don’ts to avoid common mistakes and maximize the overall effectiveness of your practice.
To make things clear, we’ve put together some guidelines for aspiring bandha practitioners, featuring expert insights, practice tips, and links to relevant articles on our website. These guidelines have two goals: to help you figure out when to add bandhas to your routine and ensure you progress safely.
Things to Consider Before Learning Bandhas
The following points should help you decide if you’re ready to start practicing bandhas:
1. Check Your Health & Fitness Level
Although bandhas offer many benefits, they can potentially worsen certain health issues. So, if you have any underlying medical conditions, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor to confirm if it’s okay to practice bandhas. Even if you get the green light, we highly recommend working with an experienced yoga teacher who can adapt these practices to your specific needs.
Likewise, if you are recovering from injury, illness, or recent surgery, hold off on all bandha work until you are fully healed. Instead, and if you health condition permits it, practice Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, or other gentle physical activities that can speed up or support your recovery process.
It's also important to know that bandhas are not for everyone. They are contraindicated in asituations like pregnancy, respiratory issues, heart disease, and blood pressure. So, for your own safety, take a moment to learn about the contraindications for each bandha before adding it to your routine.
2. Prepare the Body with Asanas
“Even if you are in good health, there’s no point rushing into bandhas if you’ve only been doing yoga for a few weeks or months,” says Geert Meijer. “These are intermediate-level practices, intended only for those who are fairly proficient in the major asanas and basic pranayama techniques.”
But why is this the case? Yoga poses are known to improve muscle strength and flexibility, but they also serve a subtler purpose: releasing muscular tension and stiffness. In the yogic view, muscle tension creates blockages within the body’s energy pathways, which in turn hinders the flow of prana.
Since yogic internal locks are designed to control and redirect this energy flow, it’s essential to first remove any existing blockages. Plus, practicing yoga poses also build strength, flexibility, and endurance, which helps maintain a stable posture throughout your bandha practice.
3. Train the Breath with Pranayamas
“In traditional yoga practice, students always progress from asana (poses) to pranayama (breathwork) to bandhas. This structured path was created by ancient sages for a reason – because each step lays the groundwork for the next one,” explains Vineet Kaul, Prana Sutra’s Editor in Chief.
Pranayama, in particular, plays a key role in this sequence because it helps you build lung capacity, diaphragmatic control, and overall respiratory efficiency. It always makes to aware of the subtler sensations of the body, especially the movements of the chest, diaphgram, and stomach.
“Bandhas are most commonly combined with pranayamas, so breath control is a pre-requisite,” Vineet explains. “Even if you practice them independently, it has to be done with breath retention. So, you need to be able to hold your breath for 10+ seconds to experience the actual benefits of bandhas.”
Pranayama also trains the mind to focus, cultivates inner awareness, and refines your perception of prana as it moves through the body. It’s essential to develop these skills before practicing bandhas. We recommend mastering the following pranayamas before you start doing bandhas:
Diaphragmatic Breathing - Learn to breathe correctly and efficiently.
Three-Part Breathing - Elongate the breath to build overall respiratory efficiency.
Viloma Pranayama - Improve lung elasticity and respiratory muscle strength.
Pratiloma Pranayama - Extend the in-breath with control and precision.
Anuloma Pranayama - Develop the ability to extend the out-breath significantly.
Kumbhaka Pranayama - Train to increase your breath retention capacity.
Nadi Shodhana - Purify and balance energy flow in the Ida and Pingala Nadis.
It's also advisable to master the eight classic kumbhakas (pranayamas) of Hatha Yoga before taking up any bandha work. And, in case you missed it, the Pranayama page on our website offers detailed how-to guides on all major yoga breathing techniques, including the ones listed above.
4. Learn About Subtle Anatomy
So far, we've discussed how to prepare the body for internal locks. But bandhas are not just physical; they are designed to influence our energy systems. So, it helps to have a basic understanding of subtle anatomy, which you'll find in contemporary pranayama books and many online resources.
“Yoga theory helps you understand the mechanics of a practice, and yoga philosophy reveals its deeper purpose,” explains Vineet Kaul. “For instance, knowing which bandha influences which chakra allows you to approach it with greater intentionality. Plus, you can amplify that bandha's benefits by pairing it with complementary mantras, mudras, visualizations, and breathing rhythms.”
The key concepts to explore are: Prana (life energy), Nadis (energy channels), and Chakras (energy centers). We also recommend learning about the Pancha Prana Vayus (the five sub-currents of prana), Koshas (the five layers of our being), and Kundalini Shakti (a latent spiritual energy). Once again, there are in-depth articles on these topics available on our website.
Guidelines While Practicing Bandhas
Now, let’s look at what to consider after you’ve decided to add bandhas to your routine:
1. Practice on an Empty Stomach for Best Results
The best time to practice bandhas is early morning on an empty stomach, preferably after relieving yourself. This is particularly relevant for Mula, Uddiyana, and Maha Bandha, as the muscular contractions involved in these practices affect the bowels, bladder, and stomach.
Practicing in the wee hours is ideal for a variety of reasons: a) your mind is naturally relaxed and clutter-free, b) the air quality tends to be better, and c) there are fewer distractions.
If mornings aren’t feasible, you can still practice later in the day—just ensure you wait at least three hours after your last meal so your stomach is empty and settled. And finally, skip bandha practice on days when you are experiencing digestive issues or haven't had enough rest/sleep.
2. Warm Up Before Each Practice Session
In a typical yoga routine, bandhas are always performed after asana and pranayama. This progression prepares the body, breath, and mind for the mechanics of these internal locks. But sometimes, students may practice a bandha independently, mainly to learn it's physical aspects of it better.
If that’s the case, start your practice with gentle stretching to work the muscles and joints engaged during that particular bandha. For example, prepare for Jalandhara Bandha with neck stretches, shoulder rolls, and asanas like Camel Pose and Bridge Pose. Likewise, include Garland Pose, Butterfly Pose, and Warrior Pose variations in warm-up routines for Mula Bandha.
The same can be said about preparing with pranayama. A few rounds of Ujjayi Pranayama (Ocean Breathing) can warm up the neck area for Jalandhara Bandha practice, while Dirgha Pranayama (Three-part Breathing) can help relax the diaphragm, aiding with Uddiyana Bandha practice.
3. Master One Bandha at a Time
As a beginner, you should take it slow and focus on one bandha at a time. Start by memorizing the technique and learning about its target muscles and energetic effects. Then, practice the bandha on its own, focusing on isolating and engaging the correct muscles. Continue doing so until you memorize the sequence and build a good amount of muscular strength and control.
"Once you can engage a bandha effortlessly, you can begin to slowly incorporate it into other practices," says Vineet Kaul, Prana Sutra's Editor in Chief. "We’ve discussed this approach in the next article of the series – Bandhas in Bite-Sized Chunks. You’ll find the link to it at the end of this article."
4. Maintain Proper Posture and Alignment
Bandhas are generally practiced in meditation postures like Sukhasana, Siddhasana, Vajrasana, and Padmasana. How you sit matters because it directly impacts your breathing, focus, and energy flow, making it crucial to maintain good posture and alignment during practice.
“When your spine is straight, your diaphragm moves freely, and your ribcage has the space it needs to expand. This makes it easier to hold your breath comfortably, which is a big part of bandha work,” explains Geert. “On the flip side, slouching or tensing your shoulders can restrict your breathing and block the smooth flow of prana. That's why you should br mindful of your posture."
5. Don’t Skip Rest Periods Between Rounds
Resting between bandha rounds isn’t just about giving your body a break – it’s also a chance to notice what’s happening inside. Use this time to review your technique, make adjustments, and reflect on the sensations or energy shifts you might be experiencing. It’s also the perfect opportunity to deepen your breathing and release any muscular tension built up during the engagement.
“Generally, you complete one round of a bandha and rest for four times the duration of your practice,” says Vineet Kaul. “For instance, if you hold Mula Bandha for 15 seconds, rest for 60 seconds before another round. You can shorten the rest period as you get better at it.”
Many yoga instructors encourage students to perform one round of a bandha and observe their breath. They are ready for the next one when their breathing normalizes, which usually takes a minute or two. But regardless of how many rounds you perform in total, you should always conclude your bandha session with at five or more minutes of rest in Savasana (Corpse Pose).
6. Respect Your Body's Natural Limits
Remember, bandha practice is all about ease and control, meaning gentle engagements and measured breathing. Overdoing it–like intense muscular contractions, forceful breathing, or doing too many rounds–often leads to strain and exertion. This makes it obligatory to focus on quality over quantity.
This can be achieved by adopting a mindful approach, paying close attention to how you feel during practice. If you are overdoing it, you will experience bodily cues like labored breathing, pain in your temples, or dizziness. These are signs to dial down the duration or intensity of your practice.
Recommended Sequence for Learning Bandhas
The traditional progression for learning yoga bandhas is:
Jalandhara → Mula → Uddiyana → Maha Bandha
As noted in previous articles of this series, some yoga schools (Ashtanga Vinyasa, for instance) choose to teach Mula Bandha first because it can be easily combined with physical postures. If that the case, the progression rearraged to Mula → Jalandhara → Uddiyana → Maha Bandha.
“I recommend starting with Jalandhara Bandha during pranayama training because it significantly enhances concentration and breath-holding capacity,” says Vineet. “By learning it first, you develop skills that make it easier to practice the other bandhas. After mastering Jalandhara, proceed to Mula Bandha, and then to Uddiyana.”
Likewise, practice Maha Bandha only after mastering the three primary bandhas. By this point in your practice, you will have developed a high level of muscular control and subtle perception, as well as the ability to hold your breath for 20 to 30 seconds without experiencing strain or discomfort. Once you understand the deeper purpose of bandhas, it becomes clear why this progression matters.
Before You Go
This concludes our basic guidelines for bandha practice. Hopefully, it provides answers to many of the commonly asked questions from our readers and subscribers. But don’t stop here—we’ve got plenty of practical tips and guides on how to bring yoga gestures and internal locks into your daily routine.
If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to our newsletter and following us on social media. We also have a Substack, where we explore the energetic effects and philosophy behind yoga practices.
Comments