Uddiyana Bandha
Bandhas are muscle locks. Bandhas help to provide energy to your practice and make your movements lighter. Uddiyana Bandha is a one of the three Bandhas that are used in Ashtanga yoga. You engage Uddiyana Bandha by bring some tension to the lower abdomen. Put your thumb in your navel and rest your fingers directly below. These are the muscles that you want to bring a slight tension to. You should attempt to maintain this tension throughout all of the movements in the Sun Salutes.
Ujjiayi Pranayama
Ujjiayi Pranayama means “Victorious breath”. You make a gentle sound with your breath as you breath in and out at a moderate pace.
The sound of the breath is like the ocean waves washing up on the beach. A gentle and soft sound. It also sounds like a gentle wind blowing through the leaves of a tree. You make the sound by restricting the back of the throat. The sound comes from the throat and not from the nose. When you breath you should be able to feel the air moving through the throat and you should be able to hear it as well.
We use the breath to guide us through all of the movements of the Sun Salute and all of the other postures that you practice. When you breath in you will be expanding or opening the body. When you breath out you will be contracting or closing the body.
