The author of this tome, Swami Buddhananda, is a former physician and psychiatrist. Realising the limitations of traditional pyschotherapy and western medicine, Swami Buddhananda began a decade-spanning search for a more widely-available, practical and effective method to reintegrate the body, mind and spirit of his patients and a suffering and benighted humankind.
Experimenting with a wide range of western and eastern-derived therapies including the techniques of acupuncture, manipulative therapy and herbal medicine, his quest culminated in his discovery of yoga and its healing powers. This little volume is one of the results of that quest.
Moola bandha (the "perineal lock") is a yogic technique intended to manipulate the flow of energies in the pranic body by closing off their nethermost channel in the Moolachakra region, via a dilation and contraction of the muscular structure around the perineum. This was one of the approaches taught by the author's guru, and prompted the author to undertake an intensive theoretical and clinical study on the practice, an important aspect of both hatha and kundalini yogas.
Moola bandha is a simple, easily learned yet powerful practice with a host of benefits - spiritual, mental and physical - for its practitioner. It is such a beneficial practice that one is left wondering at the reasons for the paucity of literature on the topic.
This book delineates the anatomical, physiological, endocrinological, neurological and psychic effects of Moola Bandha in clear, easily understood text supplemented where necessary by illustrations. Of particular interest to this reviewer was the attempt to relate the effects of Moola Bandha practice on the body with those of acupuncture, which chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
I ushesitatingly recommend Moola Bandha: The Master Key to every yoga student, practitioner and teacher and anyone with an interest in natural approaches to the healing of body, mind and spirit.
The text focuses on the theory and practice of bandha. The physical, pranic and psychotherapeutic effects are explored, including the relationship between moola bandha and acupuncture. A concise practical section includes both preliminary practices and advanced techniques to enable the practitioner to pursue this sadhana to the utmost, thus awakening the primal energy within. Includes the drawings and diagrams.
