Unfetter Thyself

“Unfetter thyself” is one of my favorite things to say in class. Partly it just feels nice rolling off the tongue. Partly because it strikes right at the heart of what yoga is about. This month of study and practice we are engaging the yoga bandhas. The concept of bandha is as old as man’s encounter with animal spirits and harkens back to the ancient art of falconry. Like the lashes that hitch a raptor to its perch, bandhas are meant to harness the “bird of prana”. For example, the root energy at the tailbone and sequential lift of the belly are designed to expand the wings of the breath.

In the soul’s journey, the tether symbolizes confinement of the human spirit. In the Old Testament we read, “if they are bound by fetters, they are held in cords of affliction.” Of course none of us today is literally bound by fetters and chains. The constraints we contend with are largely internal and mainly of our own making. Self criticism, condemning voices and corrosive thinking keep us ensnared. Paradoxically, bandhas are designed to loosen internal knots. Like an opened sluice gate, they generate a great flow of energy inside.

Each yoga practice, it is necessary to loosen your interior—your perineum, gut, diaphragm and throat—so that a swoosh of vitality flows through you. At the same time, loosen the fetters that constrain your heart and mind. Bit by bit release that which holds you captive inside. It is by unfettering all that confines your body, mind and spirit that you can free the bird of prana and achieve the great liberation.