Thursday, May 26, 2011

Uddhiyana Bandha at the Dentist's

[Image taken from here]


I just found a new situation in which engaging uddhiyana bandha comes in handy: At the dentist's. I just went to the dentist for an examination and cleaning. The cleaning part was okay, but the examination was another story. Since I was a new patient, they had to do this super-intensive series of eighteen X-rays of the teeth and the supporting bone structure. Which meant that the hygienist had to insert this bulky plastic strip into my mouth at least eighteen times. I think this strip carries the film; I'm not sure. In any case, when one is in the dentist's office, one is reduced to a puny order-following patient. Very humbling existential experience...

So as I was saying, the strip had to be inserted into my mouth at least eighteen times. And quite a few of these eighteen times involved putting the strip in very awkward positions in the mouth relative to the palate and the tongue. Which makes one (at least it makes me) feel like gagging. At the same time, however, I was in a reclining position, with my head tilted back. Which put me in a slightly backbended position. Which means that it was quite easy for me to pull in the space between the navel and the pelvic bones, and engage uddhiyana bandha. Pretty cool, don't you think? And it's a good thing that I did, because I'm quite sure that engaging uddhiyana bandha made all the difference between being able to pull back the gag reflex and suffering an embarrassing gag. And of course, I got an extra opportunity to work on uddiyana bandha :-)

So the next time you go to the dentist, you might also want to use the time spent in the dentist's chair as an extra practice session of sorts (or not).

2 comments:

  1. Also, mula bandha: When it's icy out and you step on snow that turns out to be slippery and you feel you're about to lose your balance, SQUEEZE YOUR ANUS!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, that's a good suggestion, Frank. Or, as somebody might take Guruji to be saying: CONTACT URANUS!

    ReplyDelete