Jalandhara Bandha, Enjoying Vacation and Gloria Steinem
November 24, 2024
8 min read
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{Body}
Jalandhara bandha
In yoga, the positioning of the skull is as important (if not more important) than the positioning of the entire spine and pelvis.
This is because the head contains the brain and brain stem, both of which use an incredible amount of life force to operate.
That’s why yogis developed the “jalandhara bandha” or throat lock — a technique for straightening out your neck, expanding your jaw, and making your entire skull larger for energy to enter and move around in more easily.
Practice
Step-by-step instructions to turn theory into healing.
Jalandhara bandha is on top of mula bandha and uddiyana bandha that I taught the last two weeks.
When I teach this practice, I split it into three phases, with each phase having three steps:
The Outer Head
Skull Pushes Up. Imagine that the ceiling is just an inch above the crown of your head and push up. The muscles being used for this motion are the ones that need strengthening. Alternatively, you can imagine a string pulling your skull upwards, lifting it away from the rest of the body.
Chin Drops. Your chin should lower until it becomes parallel to the horizon. If it feels like you’re giving yourself a double chin, look at yourself in the mirror. You might be surprised to find that it looks more normal than you imagined.
Back of Neck Lengthens. Place your hand on the back of your neck, near and around the base of your skull. That area — the entire cervical vertebra — should be almost entirely flat.
The Face
Ears Draw Back. All animals (including you) have the ability to move their ears. For humans, though, that muscle has often atrophied due to lack of use. If you’re confused how to do this, the other two steps should help.
Lips Turn Up. Nearly every depiction of the Buddha or Christ shows serenity on their face, corresponding with a very gentle smile. Not a huge smile: a gentle smile. Frowning requires tension in the face. Subtle smiling requires none.
Eyebrows Separate. Aka un-furrow your eyes. Here it helps to first lift your eyebrows (as though surprised) and then see if you can keep the openness while learning to drop the eyebrows back to their original position.
The Inner Head
Tongue Plasters. Imagine you were saying the words tongue, mango or going. The ‘ng’ motion of the tongue (wherein it mounts itself to the roof of the mouth) is where your tongue should be. This, in turn, should open your throat.
Tongue Floats. In the resting position, the tip of your tongue should be floating inside your mouth.
Teeth Apart. Your top and bottom set of teeth should be very slightly separate from one another.
Practice
Step-by-step instructions to turn theory into healing.
Jalandhara bandha is on top of mula bandha and uddiyana bandha that I taught the last two weeks.
When I teach this practice, I split it into three phases, with each phase having three steps:
The Outer Head
Skull Pushes Up. Imagine that the ceiling is just an inch above the crown of your head and push up. The muscles being used for this motion are the ones that need strengthening. Alternatively, you can imagine a string pulling your skull upwards, lifting it away from the rest of the body.
Chin Drops. Your chin should lower until it becomes parallel to the horizon. If it feels like you’re giving yourself a double chin, look at yourself in the mirror. You might be surprised to find that it looks more normal than you imagined.
Back of Neck Lengthens. Place your hand on the back of your neck, near and around the base of your skull. That area — the entire cervical vertebra — should be almost entirely flat.
The Face
Ears Draw Back. All animals (including you) have the ability to move their ears. For humans, though, that muscle has often atrophied due to lack of use. If you’re confused how to do this, the other two steps should help.
Lips Turn Up. Nearly every depiction of the Buddha or Christ shows serenity on their face, corresponding with a very gentle smile. Not a huge smile: a gentle smile. Frowning requires tension in the face. Subtle smiling requires none.
Eyebrows Separate. Aka un-furrow your eyes. Here it helps to first lift your eyebrows (as though surprised) and then see if you can keep the openness while learning to drop the eyebrows back to their original position.
The Inner Head
Tongue Plasters. Imagine you were saying the words tongue, mango or going. The ‘ng’ motion of the tongue (wherein it mounts itself to the roof of the mouth) is where your tongue should be. This, in turn, should open your throat.
Tongue Floats. In the resting position, the tip of your tongue should be floating inside your mouth.
Teeth Apart. Your top and bottom set of teeth should be very slightly separate from one another.
Practice
Step-by-step instructions to turn theory into healing.
Jalandhara bandha is on top of mula bandha and uddiyana bandha that I taught the last two weeks.
When I teach this practice, I split it into three phases, with each phase having three steps:
The Outer Head
Skull Pushes Up. Imagine that the ceiling is just an inch above the crown of your head and push up. The muscles being used for this motion are the ones that need strengthening. Alternatively, you can imagine a string pulling your skull upwards, lifting it away from the rest of the body.
Chin Drops. Your chin should lower until it becomes parallel to the horizon. If it feels like you’re giving yourself a double chin, look at yourself in the mirror. You might be surprised to find that it looks more normal than you imagined.
Back of Neck Lengthens. Place your hand on the back of your neck, near and around the base of your skull. That area — the entire cervical vertebra — should be almost entirely flat.
The Face
Ears Draw Back. All animals (including you) have the ability to move their ears. For humans, though, that muscle has often atrophied due to lack of use. If you’re confused how to do this, the other two steps should help.
Lips Turn Up. Nearly every depiction of the Buddha or Christ shows serenity on their face, corresponding with a very gentle smile. Not a huge smile: a gentle smile. Frowning requires tension in the face. Subtle smiling requires none.
Eyebrows Separate. Aka un-furrow your eyes. Here it helps to first lift your eyebrows (as though surprised) and then see if you can keep the openness while learning to drop the eyebrows back to their original position.
The Inner Head
Tongue Plasters. Imagine you were saying the words tongue, mango or going. The ‘ng’ motion of the tongue (wherein it mounts itself to the roof of the mouth) is where your tongue should be. This, in turn, should open your throat.
Tongue Floats. In the resting position, the tip of your tongue should be floating inside your mouth.
Teeth Apart. Your top and bottom set of teeth should be very slightly separate from one another.
{Mind}
Unable to relax and enjoy my vacation
Many of us only get through the long work days by dangling the carrot of vacation in front of us.
“I’m working more hours today so that tomorrow I can get off work early.” “I don’t like what I do, but it affords me to go to nice places.” “I only have 10 more years of this before I can retire and be free.”
Just minutes (or hours or days) after unplugging, though, many find themselves unable to actually enjoy the space they asked for.
Or they can enjoy it, but only if their minds are being stimulated by experiences (constant excursions or events, big meals or day drinking, catching up on media or hours of gaming).
There are three likely reasons for your inability to relax into stillness during vacation:
Part of you believes you don’t deserve to slow down. That you must earn your vacation every day.
You’re already imagining what’s next in terms of work.
You are unwilling to look at the emotions you repressed to get here.
In other words, you can’t fully sink into your vacation simply because you aren’t allowing yourself to be present with what is. Either you’re judging yourself for what you chose, preparing yourself for an unpredictable future, or don’t like what’s happening now.
Either way, your nervous system is busy fighting demons instead of absorbing the harmonious vibrations of silence and being.
I suggest the following:
Whenever you feel restless during vacation, set a timer for a minimum of five minutes and breathe deeply to the count of 4-7-8 (Inhale 4, Hold 7, Exhale 8).
Answer the following question in your mind or in your journal: what emotion and I unwilling to feel right now?
Look and listen to something in nature. A tree, the clouds, the ocean, birds flying overhead.
Meditate
Bite-sized audios to help you become the master of your mind.
Audio meditations are available for all {Body} • {Mind} • {Soul} posts published after March 9th, 2025. This post predates this implementation. Check out the meditations page for current audios. 🙏🏻
Meditate
Bite-sized audios to help you become the master of your mind.
Audio meditations are available for all {Body} • {Mind} • {Soul} posts published after March 9th, 2025. This post predates this implementation. Check out the meditations page for current audios. 🙏🏻
Meditate
Bite-sized audios to help you become the master of your mind.
Audio meditations are available for all {Body} • {Mind} • {Soul} posts published after March 9th, 2025. This post predates this implementation. Check out the meditations page for current audios. 🙏🏻
{Soul}
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” — Gloria Steinem
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” — Gloria Steinem
Truth rarely arrives gently. It can scream through an already loud world, dismantling any and all illusions you’ve built for yourself.
Your first response to it — anger, resistance, denial — isn’t actually aimed at truth, but at the clarity and integrity it demands of you.
Consider the moment you realized a relationship wasn’t healthy, or when you faced an uncomfortable fact about yourself. You didn’t hate the truth, you hated the actions necessary to make things right.
Sitting with what is true — and taking the steps necessary to realign to it — takes incredible courage. But on the other side of that discomfort is an earned freedom.
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