Bandha is Not For Every Body — Why Ancient Yogis Never Taught Bandha For Women & What Modern Yoga Forgot

Introduction — A Letter to My Sister Who Does Yoga Everyday

Yesterday a 28-year-old girl came to me in Mysore after her yoga class. She was crying.

“Guruji, I do everything right. I do Mula Bandha 108 times, Uddiyana on empty stomach, Nauli... but since 6 months, my periods stopped, I feel angry all the time, I cannot sleep, and I feel numb down there.”

She was not sick. She was injured. Not by accident, but by a practice that was never made for her body.

1. What is Bandha? Real History, Not Instagram History

In Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century), Yogi Swatmarama never wrote yoga for fitness. He wrote for Brahmacharis — young male yogis living in caves whose biggest problem was energy leakage.

Word Bandha means LOCK, CLOSE, DAM. The article explains bandha through its model of pranic anatomy and describes Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and Jalandhara Bandha as techniques for locking and recycling energy upward.

2. The Biggest Secret Modern Yoga Never Told — Female Prana Already Ascends

The article presents a traditional model in which female prana naturally ascends and male prana naturally descends, and argues that aggressive locking may create “over-ascension.”

3. What Happens When Women Do Intense Bandha Daily

Anatomy Level

The article associates hard Mula Bandha with chronic pelvic tension and hard Uddiyana / Nauli with forceful abdominal and diaphragmatic action, and describes possible health consequences.

Pranic Level

It argues that over-locking at the root can affect emotional openness, describing numbness, anger and disconnection as possible experiences.

Mind Level

The article argues that over-bandha can become over-introversion and disconnection from softness and Shakti flow.

4. Why Modern Yoga Teachers Are Teaching It Wrong

The article criticizes shortcut teaching in some 200-hour TTC settings and contrasts physical pelvic-floor instruction with its proposed distinction between Ashwini Mudra and hard Mula Bandha.

It emphasizes the koshas and argues that yoga should heal personality rather than simply intensify physical performance.

5. So What Should Women Do Instead?

The article proposes what it calls feminine alternatives:

1. Instead of Mula Bandha — Ashwini Mudra & Sahajoli: soft contraction and release with breath and awareness.
2. Instead of Uddiyana Bandha — Soft Uddiyana Kriya & Womb Breathing: hands on the womb, soft belly and breath awareness.
3. Nauli: the article says to approach it only under a Guru and in the circumstances it describes.
4. Hridaya Bandha — Heart Lock: keep the heart open through Yoga Nidra, Chandra Namaskar, moon breath, sound healing and Yin Yoga.

Golden Rules for Women

• No hard bandha during periods, three days before, pregnancy, postpartum six months, or if experiencing PCOS/chronic pelvic pain.
• Never hold breath with bandha forcefully.
• Your strength is softness. Your power is not locking, but allowing.

6. My Prayer — For Teachers and Sisters

To every yoga teacher reading this: before you say “Mula Bandha” to a woman, ask whether you have studied the relevant traditions and whether your instruction is making her fit or helping her feel feminine and free.

To every sister reading this: you don't need to lock to be strong. The article’s closing invitation is to return to Shakti Flow, inhale into the womb and exhale from the heart.

“If a practice makes you lose your periods, your softness, your sleep, your tears — Leave that practice, not your womanhood.”

Jai Shakti.
— Gangesha Adi
Yoga Master | 23+ Years | DHARMA | KARMA | Moksha