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Muladhara is the platform over which Svadhisthana flows, while Svadhisthana’s liquidity hydrates and nurtures Muladhara. It is a perfectly paired relationship that continually balances the respective qualities of stability and fluidity. Now, through breath and yoga practice, you will create and expand the balance between the strength you need to have stable hips and sacrum, and the fluidity you need as well for ease and comfort of movement.
    Bandhas: Your Energy “Locks”
    Bandha means “bond” or “binding” in Sanskrit. In yoga practice, a bandha is a purposeful energetic lock in a specific part of the body that helps you hold in your body’s energy, distribute it evenly, and link it all the way from the base of your hips to the crown of your head. It is not to be confused with an energy “block,” which is an obstacle to flow and health. To the contrary, a yogic “lock” is a subtle yet powerful containment of energy, one that frees your body to connect fully through all its parts.
    There are three major bandhas: Mula Bandha (Root Lock), Uddiyana Bandha (Abdominal Lock), and Jalandhara Bandha (Chin Lock). You’ll learn about Abdominal Lock in chapter 5 and Chin Lock in chapter 6. Right now I’ll introduce Root Lock, a powerful source of energetic support for your body in your hips near the Muladhara chakra. (Do you recognize the Sanskrit term mula ? It means “root” in the context of both chakras and bandhas.)
    Physically speaking, when you practice Mula Bandha, you create a subtle contraction of the inner musculature at the pelvic floor and lower abdomen, which anchors the pelvis and supports the lower spine. It is an excellent way to develop inner strength in your pelvis and bring your spine into alignment.
    You already know that Kundalini energy exists in the Muladhara (root) chakra, and that yoga practice awakens this fundamental spiritual power. Along with conscious deep breathing, Mula Bandha, or Root Lock, is a vehicle through which Kundalini awakens. The subtle contraction in Root Lock lifts the grounding energy of the Muladhara chakra into the Svadisthana (sacral) chakra, where it mixes with the fluidity of the hips and starts to rise up the central energetic channel of the spine, called the Sushumna (more on that in chapter 3). This contributes to the process we discussed earlier, that of uniting apana vayu (the energy of the lower body) with prana vayu (the energy of the upper body).
    Root Lock is a powerful way to ignite your spiritual power, opening the path for that power to flow and evenly distribute itself throughout your body. I will reference it many times throughout this chapter, so please read on to get a good foundation in how to practice it.
    How to Practice Root Lock (Mula Bandha)
    Sit on the floor or in a chair, whichever is more comfortable for your lower back. Place your fingertips next to your hips and gently press them down to encourage your torso to lift up. Close your eyes and draw your mind down into your pelvis. Visualize your tailbone, pubic bone, and two sit bones as a diamond shape that forms the base of your pelvic bowl. You can refer to illustration 2 for a refresher on the locations of these bones. Energetically draw your tailbone and your pubic bone toward each other, and where those actions meet, lift up toward your navel. Draw the area just below your navel back toward your spine, as if gently tugged by a string. Visualize where these two actions meet, and lift that point up toward your chest. You should feel your hips become firm, but not gripped or hard; visualize the clear, brilliant light of your diamond reaching up like a shaft of radiant energy, illuminating your inner body.
    Hold Root Lock as you exhale, then release it and observe the powerful effect it has on your body. Root Lock is a subtle inner movement, not a strong muscular contraction, and you shouldn’t feel any muscular tensionin your body. At