The Three Bandhas in Yoga: What They Are and What They Are For
Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 19 September 2026
A bandha is usually translated as a "lock" — a deliberate, sustained contraction held in a specific part of the body, classically applied while the breath is held, to contain and direct prana. Modern yoga usually meets the word in a very different form: a cue in a flowing class to "engage mula bandha", meaning lift the pelvic floor. Both usages are real, but they are not the same practice, and knowing which one you are being taught saves a lot of confusion.
The short answers
- There are three named bandhas: mula bandha (pelvic floor), uddiyana bandha (abdomen drawn in and up after a full exhalation) and jalandhara bandha (chin drawn toward the chest).
- Applied together they are called maha bandha, the great lock.
- They belong to the hatha literature — the Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists them among its ten mudras — where they are paired with kumbhaka, retained breath.
- The common modern teaching of mula bandha as continuous light pelvic-floor engagement during posture practice is a twentieth-century adaptation, not what the texts describe.
- Learn them in this order: comfortable sitting, then steady breathing without retention, then jalandhara, then uddiyana on empty lungs, then mula, then any combination — with a teacher.
- There is essentially no clinical research on bandhas. Treat every energetic claim as tradition, not fact.
What the word actually means
Bandha means binding, tying, a lock. In the hatha texts it names a group of practices in which a part of the body is firmly contracted and held, so that — in the physiology of those texts — prana is prevented from leaking away and is instead redirected upward through the central channel. That is the stated aim: not core strength, not posture, not pelvic health. It is worth being clear about this, because the mechanical benefits often claimed for bandhas today are modern reinterpretations laid over a much older energetic model.
The same texts do not treat bandhas as beginner material. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika they appear in the third chapter among the ten mudras, described as practices received from a teacher, several of them explicitly not for casual experiment. In the Gheranda Samhita they sit inside a graded programme where retention is built up over long periods.
The three locks
Mula bandha — mula means root. A contraction of the pelvic floor region. The texts are not anatomically precise by modern standards, and different lineages point to the perineum, the area between the anus and genitals, or the cervix; this ambiguity is genuine and not something a website should pretend to resolve. Practically, it is taught today as a lift of the pelvic floor without gripping the buttocks or holding the breath.
Uddiyana bandha — uddiyana means flying up. After a complete exhalation, with the breath held out, the abdomen is drawn back and up under the ribs, creating a hollow. This is the most dramatic of the three to look at and the most misunderstood: it is done on empty lungs, never on a full breath, and never while inhaling.
Jalandhara bandha — the chin is drawn down toward the sternum with the back of the neck long, which restrains the throat and, in the traditional account, the flow at the throat. It is the lock most often used during breath retention, because it prevents a sharp pressure build-up in the head when the breath is held.
Maha bandha — the three applied together, generally seated, during retention. The Pradipika places Mahabandha alongside Mahamudra and Mahavedha as a set of three practices to be learned together.
What changed in the twentieth century
Two shifts are worth naming plainly.
First, bandhas moved from retention practice into posture practice. In Ashtanga Vinyasa and its descendants, mula bandha and uddiyana bandha are taught as light, continuous actions maintained through a moving sequence — a use the classical texts do not describe. It can be a useful teaching tool for stability and a steadier breath. It is not a translation of the source material.
Second, the energetic aim was often replaced with a biomechanical one: pelvic-floor tone, abdominal support, "core engagement". That reframing made the practices teachable to large classes, and it also quietly dropped the reason the texts gave for doing them.
Neither shift is a scandal. Practices change. The problem is only when the modern version is presented as ancient.
An honest order of learning
Most injuries and unpleasant experiences around bandhas come from doing them too early, too hard, or with the breath held in. A workable order:
- A seat you can hold comfortably for ten minutes. Without that, everything above it is compromised. A firm meditation cushion that tilts the pelvis forward makes this considerably easier for most people.
- Smooth, quiet breathing with no retention at all, for several weeks.
- Jalandhara bandha, which is simply a head position and is safe to explore alone.
- Uddiyana bandha, on empty lungs, standing, a few short rounds.
- Mula bandha, gently, without breath-holding, learning to release fully between contractions.
- Combinations, retention and maha bandha — with an experienced teacher, not from a page like this one.
Where to go next
Each lock has its own page with the mechanics, the classical references and its specific cautions: mula bandha, uddiyana bandha, jalandhara bandha and maha bandha. If your interest is breath work, read bandhas in pranayama and then the breathing guides. If you have a health condition or are pregnant, start with who should not practise bandhas.
In practice
Sit so the practice is possible
Hips above knees, spine upright without strain, ten minutes without fidgeting. A cushion or folded blanket usually solves this faster than stretching does.
Breathe without retention first
Several weeks of slow, quiet nasal breathing. Bandhas layered onto a strained breath make the strain worse.
Learn jalandhara alone
Chin toward the sternum, back of the neck long, throat soft. No force, no crunching the front of the neck.
Explore uddiyana on empty lungs
Exhale fully, hold the breath out, draw the abdomen back and up, release before you feel any urgency. Two or three short rounds.
Add mula bandha gently
A light lift of the pelvic floor, breath moving normally. Full release between contractions matters as much as the lift.
Keep combinations for a teacher
Maha bandha and bandhas held during retention are where things go wrong unsupervised. Learn them in person.
Cautions worth reading
- Bandhas are muscular and breath practices, not treatments. Stop if you feel dizzy, breathless, pressured in the head or eyes, or any pelvic pain, and speak to a doctor, midwife or pelvic health physiotherapist before practising if you are pregnant, recently post-partum, recovering from abdominal or pelvic surgery, or managing high blood pressure, glaucoma, hernia, epilepsy or heart disease.
- Never do uddiyana bandha on a full breath or during an inhalation; it belongs on empty lungs only.
- Never practise bandhas on a full stomach — the classical instruction and the practical one agree here.
- Continuous gripping of the pelvic floor all day is not mula bandha and can make pelvic symptoms worse. Release is part of the practice.
- If a teacher tells you bandhas will cure a condition, awaken kundalini on schedule, or replace medical care, that is a claim the texts do not make and the research cannot support.
Where the evidence stands
There is no meaningful clinical evidence base for bandhas as practices in their own right — no significant trials, no established physiological outcomes beyond the obvious mechanics of a held contraction and a held breath. Adjacent literature on pelvic-floor training and on slow breathing exists, but it studies different interventions with different protocols, and borrowing it to support bandha claims would be dishonest. What we can say is descriptive: uddiyana bandha creates a measurable change in abdominal and thoracic pressure, jalandhara changes the position of the airway, and mula bandha recruits pelvic-floor musculature. What those changes do for you long term is not established.
Questions people ask
+ What are the three bandhas in yoga?
+ Are bandhas mentioned in the Yoga Sutras?
+ Can beginners practise bandhas?
+ Should I hold mula bandha all the time?
+ Do bandhas awaken kundalini?
+ What is the fourth bandha?
Sources
- *Hatha Yoga Pradipika* (Svatmarama), chapters 2–3 — the eight kumbhakas and the ten mudras, including Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha, Jalandhara Bandha and Mahabandha. Sanskrit with translation: Brian Dana Akers, YogaVidya.com.
- *Gheranda Samhita*, chapters 3 and 5 — its own list of mudras and its staged approach to retention. Sanskrit with translation: Brian Dana Akers, YogaVidya.com.
- James Mallinson & Mark Singleton, *Roots of Yoga* (Penguin Classics, 2017) — on mudra and bandha in the tantric and hatha corpus.
- Mark Singleton, *Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice* (Oxford, 2010) — on how twentieth-century schools reframed these practices.
Educational content, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting new practices if you have a health condition or are pregnant.