Jalandhara bandha जालंधर बंध Print

While sitting on a fence post way out at a horse ranch .I captured this real horse moving doing~The Throat Lock Jalan means “net,” and dhara means “stream” or “flow.” As it is a contraction in the neck area, jalandhara bandha can be understood as a contraction that locks the throat and keeps the stream of very refined energy radiating from a secret chakra in the head from flowing downward. There is also a second interpretation of its significance, coming from adhara (“substratum” or “support”). The adharas are the sixteen major and minor chakras. So, jalandhara bandha may be defined as the practice that locks the pranic network of the neck and redirects the flow of subtle energy from this adhara to sushumna nadi, the main energy channel that runs along the spine. In traditional yogic texts, jalandhara bandha is occasionally called kantha mudra (“throat seal”), kantha samkoca (“throat contraction”), and kantha bandha (“throat lock”). As is stated in the Gheranda Samhita, “Jalandhara bandha, when done right, gives victory.” “Victory,” in yoga, of course, means the revelation of our Real Self—the Spiritual Heart. Because this technique powerfully redirects the flow of prana, it teaches us how to recognize a very subtle form of energy, amrita (the nectar of immortality), creating the proper conditions to reveal our true nature, the Heart.