We know the belly. You’ve heard of the breath. But the Bandha?
What are they? Why are they important? And how do we interact with them?
The belly house’s organs like the liver, the spleen, the gallbladder, the large & small intestines, and the kidneys. You get the gist. All of these organs are compressed in the abdominal area.
The diaphragm and the pelvic floor
Encased below the diaphragm are the pelvic floor and layers of abdominal muscles. All of these organs are moving, excreting, digesting, fermenting, changing the energy, and engaging in nutritional bio waste exchange. Your body has it’s own eco system.
Above the belly
Between the diaphragm & the throat, encapsulated by ribs & intercostal muscles that expand & contract are the lungs. Between the lungs is the pericardium which house the heart. The heart is expanding, contracting, and moving. All of this movement; inhale (Prana) and exhale (Aprama) pushes the diaphragm down and up. The heart is the blood exchanger, pushing oxyginated blood to the extremities and bringing deoxiginated blood back through the veins to the heart.
The Bandha
There are the valves leading into and out of the three compartments of the torso. The valves come from your mouth and nose, into your lungs mouth and stomach, through the other organs and out of your body. In Yoga, these openings and locks are called Bandha. Their names are Jalandhar Bandha, Iuddiyana Bandha, and Moola Bandha.
To learn more about the Bandha, I recommend “Moola Bandha the Master Key” By Swami Buddhananda
The Great Massage
While I was studying massage in Thailand, I earned a certificate for bodywork that is focused on the abdomen. It is call Chi Nei Tsang.
Take a calming exploration into yourself by connecting with your own breath and belly. Try doing a simple exercise of clockwise circular motion around the naval, try spiraling around the naval to the other edges of the belly. You should feel your diaphragm; pushing down, pulling up, moving. You will feel the gas pockets in the belly. In time, you should feel the organs expand, contract and drop. Do this as a meditation. You can do it when you wake up or before you go to sleep.
Start lightly. If this exercise hurts, you might be doing it too hard.
Next, massage your belly with your hand, feeling the gas, and listen to the language that is your body. Your blood pressure lowers and your cortizone levels drop. You are massaging your body from the inside out with your breath while massaging your body from the outside in with your hand.
Notice what happens, write it down, then get back to me I’d love to hear how this connection works for you. The hardest part of this is getting past your own mind.
This conversation will continue.
