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Technique
Sit in any meditation pose with the knees on the floor; spine erect, head straight. Close the eyes and relax the whole body. Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose. Exhale forcefully and completely. Retain the breath outside. Successively perform jalandhara, uddiyana and moola bandhas, in this order. Hold the bandhas and the breath for as long as is comfortable without straining. While holding maha bandha, rotate the awareness for a few seconds from mooladhara to manipura to vishuddhi a number of times. Start from mooladhara each time. After a comfortable period, release moola, uddiyana, then jalandhara bandha in this order. Inhale slowly only when the head is upright. This is one round. Allow the breath to return to normal before commencing the next round.
Practise up to 5 rounds. Contra-indications: As for the three bandhas. Benefits: Maha bandha gives enhanced benefits of all three
bandhas. It affects the hormonal secretions of the pineal gland and regulates the entire endocrine system. The degenerative and ageing processes are checked and every cell of the body is rejuvenated. It introverts the mind prior to meditation. When perfected, it can fully awaken prana in the main chakras. It leads to the merger of prana, apana and samana in manipura chakra, which is the culmination
of all pranayamas. Practice note: The three bandhas should be mastered
separately before attempting maha bandha.
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